Selects: Adidas v. Puma: A Sibling Rivalry | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey friends, it's me Josh and for this. week's select, I've chosen our 2018. episode on Adidas versus Puma. It's the. German version of the Hatfield versus. the McCoys, except with cool sports. apparel rather than overalls. And one of. the things I noticed at the end of this. episode is that sometimes when we're. just doing our thing, talking back and. forth like we do, we'll have some. throwaway comment or side conversation. or something that takes on much greater. significance years on. It's one of the. interesting things about talking out.

loud for 17 years. At any rate, Sarak. Vodka, anyone? Welcome to Stuff You Should. Know, a production of iHeart. Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck. Bryant. There's Andrew over there, the. guest producer. I'm wearing Adidas. Chuck is wearing Puma. Andrew is wearing.

Reebok. None of us are speaking to one. another right now. Yeah, it's weird. Andrew is wearing uh. white Reebok high tops with uh bronze. panty hose and orange dolphin running. shorts. And he claims he doesn't work. for Hooters part-time. Oh. Oh. Oh, yes. I like that you didn't know that because. that means you don't go into Hooters. No. No. I've seen pictures on TV. I had. to go. The actually I've only been there. once and that was when I worked at that. awful job with the chicken killers and.

uh it was on a stupid work trip they. made me go on and that was like the only. place in town. Yep. And all these yokals. that I worked with were like, "Yeah, man. Let's go to Hooters." And uh I went. in there and I was just like, "Oh my. lord, what. is they were trapped in time." I' I've. been there a couple of times actually. when I was a younger younger man. It's. the same. I imagine it is. I'm sure. And. uh I was there on my 21st birthday in. Jacksonville because it was the only. place open. It was like a a Tuesday.

night or something and I was like this. is this is not the best 21st birthday. I'll ever have. Yeah. And hey, we don't. want to yuck your yum. If you're if you. work at Hooters or if you love going. there, more power to you. Sure. Sure. Why not? Right. That's. pretty awesome that you said you don't. want to yuck anyone's yum. Yeah. It's. funny. I was thinking about a couple of. weeks ago when uh it was like the. Castanza moment when you thought of a. line after the moment. Yeah. When you.

were talking about how I was crazy for. not liking olives and I got on to you. I. should have said don't yum my yuck. Right. Or I was It's funny you said that. cuz I was thinking about that later on. too. I thought that I should have said. well actually I'm not yucking your yum. I'm yucking your yuck. Which is. different. Oh, you know, think about it, man. Are you thinking about it? I think. it's weird that we both thought about. that moment afterward. I think so, too. Cuz usually we just go back into our.

hyperbolic chambers and float for the. next six days. It's pretty great life we. have. It's pretty nice. Just soaking in. our own urine. God, don't you pee in your hyperaric. chamber? Well, yeah, but I mean, that's. how you're supposed to fill it up, right? Right. So, Chuck, obviously what. we're talking about today is athletic. gear, sports shoes in particular, and. two of the most uh. well-known sports brands in the entire.

world, Adidas and Puma. And some people. might not know this, Chuck, but Adidas. and Puma were founded by two brothers. who spent many decades of their lives. not speaking to one another. And some. people might even know that that they. are rival brands founded by rival. brothers, but I guarantee they don't. know the full story behind the the one. of the most bitter family rivalries of. all time that gave us Adidas and Puma.

And it is extraordinarily fascinating. There's there's Nazis, there's Run DMC, there's all this stuff all rolled into. one. And it turns out that this is it's. one of the better stories I've ever come. across. That's right. And before we dive. into that awesome story, uh, to head off. emails, I know I said hyperbolic inside. of. hyperbaric. There's no such thing as a. hyperbolic chamber. I guess there could. be. It's a chamber that's like I'm the. biggest chamber ever probably. So, uh,

all right. So, let's This is a great. story and I had heard uh bits and pieces. of this over the years, but it is. interesting that Nazis and Run DMC and. Feuding Brothers all come together to. cuz you know my Pumas, I've been a Puma. guy. Sure. For many, many years. Even. though I I did have a pair of Adidas. Superstars at one point, but they're too. uh. flashy. No, I liked them, but they were,

you know, white shoes aren't good on me. I get get them too dirty too quick. Yeah. So, now I just vary my Pumas. between the black and the uh black suede. and sort of like the olive green suede. usually. You know, Adidas makes. non-white shoes you could try. Yeah. But. those classic white superstars with the. three blue stripes, those those are the. ones. The shell toes. Yeah. Well, I mean, they have some other cool. ones, too, like gazels are pretty cool. like the the the flat bottom soccer. shoe. And yeah, my my brother was into I.

worked as else for a while when I was a. soccer poser, but my brother was into. Stan Smiths. Oh yeah, those are cool, too. I've got some some Stan Smiths that. are like this blue mesh. Now that I. think about it, if I have a loyalty to. either one, it would be Adidas, but I. don't I don't consider myself like. Adidas loyal. Well, I'm a Puma guy just. because they look good on me and they're. comfy, but I was also a uh low top. Converse all-star guy for a while. Mhm.

And in high school, of course, in the. preppy days, I was all about the tree. torrens. I never had tree torrens. It. was a look. Oh, I know for sure. Um I I. comfy. I was right after tree torrens. when I started getting into shoes. KSwiss were in. Oh, yeah. I never had. any of those. Those are cool. Uh, and. then what was the other shoe? The the uh. uh Vans. Um, there's a particular style. of Vans that I really still enjoy. The. slip-on ones with the black and white. checks. No, those are cool, but I don't.

know if I can pull those off at 47. You. could, but people will laugh at you. behind your back. Yeah, that's already. happening. Uh, yeah. Well, I'll remember. at some point. Okay, well, just shout it. out. And plus, I just wanted to cover. our basis by saying as many name brands. as possible. Don't forget British. Knights. Oh, the BK's. Yep. Um, so. Chuck, yes. Let's start the story, shall. we? We're going to have to get in the. way back machine for this one. Okay.

And this is also full of urine. So, uh, that was you, though. Let's Let's let. everybody know. Um, we're gonna go back. to the end of World War I in Germany and. we're going to go to a little town that. I'm going to let you pronounce because. I've been trying and I cannot do it. And. I thought it was interesting that we're. recording this now because we just uh. acknowledged and recognized the uh 100. years removed from World War I. The end.

of World War I. Yeah. And the beginning. of the Spanish flu that killed like. three times as many people right after. it. Yeah. That's another celebration, right? So, so we're going back there. We're just going back a 100 days almost. to the day. Yeah. And so the the name of. that town is uh Herzo Guinar. Well, I could have done at least that. good. Yeah. Herto Gener. It's It's not. exactly said that like that. Here, let's. let's play this.

That's how it's said. Okay. Okay. So, so. maybe we should just have that voice say. it for us, but we're not going to. It. turns out the locals just call the town. Herzo, so that's all we'll call it. But. it's a little tiny village in Bavaria. They can't even pronounce it. No, they're like, "We're not even going to. try." And we were born here. Don't Don't. be too hard on yourself, Josh. Is what. they're saying. Um, so in Herzo, it's a. little town in Bavaria, a little. village. There's a river running through. it. Yes. Significantly. Yes. And in um.

around 1918, one of the villagers who. was born there, a guy named um uh Adolf. Dler takes a seat in his mother's. laundry. His mother ran a laundry out of. out of their house, and he starts. cobbling athletic shoes, specifically. track shoes, I think, to begin with. And. he had a knack for it. Um, he started. making shoes that athletes actually. wanted pretty pretty early on, pretty.

much out of the gate. And he started. doing so well, so quickly that within a. year or two, he asked his older brother, who is by far the more outgoing, extrovert salesman type of the of the. two brothers, his older brother Rudolph, to start selling his shoes, start kind. of creating a business operation out of. it. And I think within just a few years. um they had 12 employees and they. founded a company called Sports Fbrick. Gabbruda. Dler which they call Gha for short.

Yeah. So Gabuda is uh you know for. brother. So Gabuda Dler is the Dosler. brothers shoe company. Um and people. were like wow so I don't have to wear my. high heeled leather sport boot any. longer on the pitch. I don't have to tie. some sharp rocks to the bottom of my. feet. Uh, so their nicknames, you'll. probably hear us refer to them as uh AI. and Rudy. R U D I and uh you'll you if. you kind of put your head to it, you can.

see where this is headed. This is. exciting. So, uh, the laundry business wasn't. going well. So, like you said, little. Audi started making these shoes and. things started going great. Um, and it. turns out they made a pretty good team. at first because they compleimemented. one another uh in what they were and. what they were good at. So Audi was. creative uh and he was the brains and. Rudy was a little more extroverted and. he was a really good salesperson, right? So they they start to do a pretty good. pretty good business. Um, and it's it's.

if you're like, well, it's a weird thing. to start doing as a a younger man to. start making sports shoes. It turns out. that Herzo is like a shoe making town. It has a long tradition of shoe making. And in 1922, for example, their. population was 3,500, but they had 112. shoe makers. That's amazing. That's a. high shoemaker to regular population. ratio. So, it's not the weirdest thing. ever, but they're plotting along. They're making really high quality shoes.

like right out of the gate. Um, Audi had. a real, like I said, a talent for making. high quality athletic shoes. And one of. the first things they made were a track. shoe that that one of these articles. says looks like a um a ballet slipper. with some nails coming out of the front. of it, the the front bottom, the forole. And it was um it just changed. everything. It was a genuinely great. track shoe. the time they the um people. who were running, sprinters who were.

running track, they didn't have any. traction when they were taking off. Yeah. This gave them traction and just. gave them an immediate um leg up over. the the competition. And so the athletes. like really really liked the the shoes. that they were putting out and the. company started to grow and grow and. grow. And then I think the 1928 Olympics. in Los Angeles is where they really. debuted their shoes and a German. sprinter was wearing a pair of their. track shoes. And all he won was a bronze.

medal, but he won a bronze medal uh. wearing the Dazzler Brothers shoes and. as a German sprinter. Exactly. So that. should say it all. It does. So he was. wearing these track spikes and this this. helped him. This got him a little bit of. notoriety. But it was really in 1936 in. Berlin at that very very famous Olympic. games where a young athlete named Jesse. Owens dominated and literally tore up. the track wearing those uh Gabuda Dler.

track spikes. Yeah. With Hitler in the. stands. And people are like, "Those. shoes are amazing." And Jesse Owens was. like, "It's kind of me, but yeah, sure, the shoes are great, but I'm also a. vastly superior athlete to the rest of. these jumps out here." Yeah. So, um, that was the Olympics that Jesse Owens. famously finished in first place, won. the gold, and did another lap around the. track, went up into the stands, and. slapped Hitler right in the face. Oh,

man. Slapped his little stash right off. that lip. So, um, the fact that Jesse. Owens was wearing these shoes. immediately brought international. attention to Geta, the Gabbrer, um, Dler. Company. Um, so they I saw one article. that said had World War II not happened, this this business would have just gone. global immediately. and it started to, but then when World War II broke out, and that was the 1936 Olympics, I think.

I said the 1928 Olympics, it was, I. think, the 1932 Olympics that I talked. about first. But at the 1936 Olympics, within just a couple of years, the um. Nazis invaded Poland and uh were running. Germany and World War II kicked off in. earnest and the the the time for sports. apparel kind of got derailed a little. bit. Yeah. So, um, just like in the. United States and and actually in. countries all over the world, uh, the. war effort was, uh, it's not like they.

were just like, "All right, we have a. few companies that manufacture military. uh, needs for our military and that's. going to be good enough." It's like, "No, we need to really co-opt kind of. any manufacturing that we want to to go. toward the war effort." And certainly. Germany uh did that along with the US. and and kind of everyone else. Um and. everything from Hugo Boss to uh Lufansza. to these little shoemakers in this small.

town in Bavaria. Yeah. Their factories. were co-opted for the war effort. basically. And what the uh Dler brothers. factory ended up making are something. called the um Panzer Shrek which means. the tank terror. And it was modeled after the American. bazooka, which was one of the first. shoulder-mounted recoilless rocket. launchers that had enough power to punch. right through a tank and blow up. everybody inside. They were nasty little.

buggers. And the Panzer Shrek was the. German version of the bazooka. And the. German version of the bazooka was. created in the Dosler brothers shoe. factory. Yeah, it's uh December. 1943 is when they kind of made the full. switch and these these little, you know, uh German ladies who were sewing shoes. the week before were now manufacturing. uh German bazookas. Uh the good news is.

by this time because these things were. really effective actually and had they. been um had they been brought into the. war sooner things might have really. changed. But uh thankfully by this time. uh even though they were doing the job, it was too late. Uh the tides had turned. and the allies were were steaming toward. victory. And even though they started. pumping out these bazookas, it was sort. of too little too late. Yeah. Have you. ever wondered about the name bazooka? Not until just now. Okay. Well, I did.

And I was like, what does a bazooka. mean? Apparently, there was a an. entertainer. I think he might have been. vaudeville. Kind of a country act. Okay. and he Bazooka Joe, I can't remember his. name, doesn't matter. He created a a. musical instrument out of brass called a. bazooka. And um it was kind of like a. trumpet and a trombone together. It was. a weird little instrument, but he was. popular enough that and the bazooka. looked like his instrument enough that. it became called the bazooka. This this.

shouldermounted rocket launcher. Interesting. I thought so, too. Sure, why not? But the point is is that all of. a sudden the Germans who had been. totally helpless against the American. tank divisions were messing the American. tank divisions up and the source of. their their power was the Dosler. brothers shoe factory. Uh and you. mentioned their their. seamstresses welding uh bazookas. together. Yeah. There also in their. factory there was forced labor of French. PS. Sure. So they had slaves and se.

seamstresses working together to create. bazookas to take out the American tank. divisions or the allied tank divisions. thanks to the companies that would. eventually become Adidas and Puma. All. right, that's a great setup. That's. that's only part one into what is a very. interesting story. Yeah. So, uh we're. going to take a little break and we'll. come back and talk about um what went. wrong with these two brothers right. after this. SK SK.

[Music]. All right, so we got to we got to go back in time a. little bit because we we sped right up. to World War II. It was just too. interesting to to wait to talk about any. longer. But we need to go back to about.

1933 because uh these brothers ended up. uh fracturing in a big big way. Um and. there have been, you know, some. legendary sibling rivalries through the. years, but this is this is really one of. the greats. Uh and I believe even Rudy. wrote uh as an older man, the the. relation to my brother was ideal from. 1924 till 1933. Then his young wife tried to interfere. with business matters although she with. her 16 years had no experience at all.

and the warfare began. Yeah. So here's. how the story goes is that in 1933 AI. was uh indeed married to a 16-year-old. which seems very creepy now but back. then it was uh uh not the strangest. thing in the world. Slightly less. creepy. Slightly less creepy. Well they. just it was a different time. Okay. So, he was married to a 16-year-old and uh. tried to get involved in the business. Rudy was not uh happy about this. Mh.

And they all live together. The two. brothers and their wives all live. together in the same townhouse. Yeah. Which is not a great recipe for success. anyway, right? You know, you need to. have your own place. So, you can imagine. that all the little bickering and snide. remarks and just all the stuff that if. you have two couples that don't really. really really like and love each other. um living together will will accumulate, if you translate that to a business. relationship, it's going to be hard on.

the business. And it was for sure. So, there was apparently a um a series of. just little things like that. But the as. far as the family legend goes, the real. break happened during World War II when. the allies were bombing the ger the um. the village of Herzo. And the uh Rudy. and his wife made it made their way to. the um the bunker, the bomb shelter. And. shortly after that, Audi and his wife, I. think her name was Kata, um they made.

their way into the bomb shelter. And. when they entered, he said, "Oh, it. looks like the bastards are here again.". And Audi apparently went to his grave. saying that he was referring to the. Allied bombers, but Rudy took it that. Audi was talking about Rudy and his. wife. Yeah. And apparently that was the. final straw. Yeah. This was true. evidence that things were really bad if. something as simple possibly as just a. little misunderstanding of whether or. not the bastards were the the Allies.

bombing or you, my brother and my. sister-in-law. Right. So, I mean, things. were things were pretty bad if this is. what did it, right? So, that that's. World War II is still going on. And at. some point, Rudy gets called to go fight. for the Nazis. He gets drafted. So, Rudy. has to go to war and the whole time he's. away, he's he's So, this rift has. already happened. So, he's suspecting. one that his brother and his brother's. wife plotted to get him drafted and he.

can't get that that idea out of his. head. So much so that apparently. multiple times he deserted his post. Yeah. To go home to make sure that he. wasn't being ousted from the the. business he'd built with his brother. Um. and then he gets arrested for desertion. And he's sure that his little brother. ratted him out for desertion, which he. may have. And so he's arrested. He's. held for a while. And as he's making his. way back after the war to. Herzo, he gets picked up by the Allies. for under suspicion of being a Gestapo.

agent. Yeah, he's sure again that it's. his little brother Audi who got him this. time landed in a P camp that he stays in. for a little while. And it turns out he. was right. There is documentary evidence. from an American officer who took the um. accusation down. And apparently it was. Audi who went to the Americans and said, "My brother is a Gestapo agent. You may. want to arrest him." What a jerk. This. is the level of stuff these brothers are.

doing to one another. Um, and the the. rift just kept getting bigger and bigger. and bigger. There's one other thing we. have to say because uh the wife, the. younger wife, the 16-year-old Kata um. gets historically blamed for creating. this rift. I think in a lot of ways. unfairly. Sure. She's also the one who. saved the family business. single-handedly. Yeah. Yeah. So, in. April 1945, uh the Americans uh march. into Herzo. Those tanks pull up in front.

of that factory. Mhm. And the soldiers, American soldiers are out there like. kind of going over what they should do. Should we destroy this building or not? This is the place where the panzer. Shreks were made. Yeah. So, Audi's wife, uh Kata, comes out and she basically. walks right up to these uh enemy. soldiers and says, "We only want to make. shoes. we only desire to make shoes. And. they're like, "Why are you talking like. Colonel Clink?" And she said, "We all.

do." Oh, okay. Uh and that's basically. like she convinced them to spare the. factory. They did so. And not only that, the air uh the Air Force, US Air Force. set up operations there at their air. base and realized that they really like. these shoes. Well, they found out that. this was the company that made Jesse. Owen's famous track shoes. Yeah. And so. they went off the charts. they started. getting these huge orders for sports. teams, American sports teams because of. this. So, this is all going on um or.

it's all starting while Rudy's off in a. P camp because his brother ratted him. out. And the business all of a sudden is. starting to turn international like like. like you said, people around the world. are are taking notice of this thanks to. the American GIS who are coming back. with this um Gheta Sportsear. Um, and. when when Rudy comes back, it's done. His brothers ratted him out. There was. the whole thing in the bomb shelter, and. the brothers split the company that they.

built together. They split uh Gabbrer, Destler, and or Dler. And they go off. and found their own companies. Yeah. 15. years after that uh bunker incident. Yep. So, so it was it took a long time. to finally boil over, right? And in. between there was another war. They were. not good Nazis, we should point out. Uh. kind of, you know, they were members of. the Nazi party and Rudy did get drafted, but like he said, he deserted his post a. lot and they, you know, they really did.

just want to sell shoes, right? He's. like Dwight Shroo's. uncle or grandfather who spent a lot of. the war in a Allied P camp. That's. right. So, like you said, they split up. the company. and we mentioned earlier that this river. ran through the center of town and I. said significant and it is significant. because it literally divided the town. and they set up their business. It's not. like one of them said, "Well, I'm going. off to Berlin, right?" They just set up. camp on opposite sides of that river.

Uh, Audi. Dossler said, "I will name my company. Adidas." Actually, at first they named. it Well, yeah, but everyone said. that stinks. Well, no, that that was a. different one. That one there was a. children's footwear line already called. Adus, so he added the I and turned it. into Adidas. Yeah. Rudy went with Ruda. And everyone said that no one's going to. buy shoes named Ruda, especially in the. United States. And he said, "I don't.

understand." And they said, "Don't worry. about it." So somehow he got Puma out of. Ruda, right? Which I don't get, but it's a. name that stuck. Yeah. And it works. Puma is definitely better than Ruda for. sure. Oh, yeah. So these two go off and. form directly competing companies that. split from the same company that the. brothers had founded together. And. Adidas and Puma started making pretty. good headway out of the gate. At first,

um, Rudy had the sales team, had the. marketing team, had the, uh, the ability. to, to move some product, but Audi had. the technical knowhow, the dedication to. making high quality footwear that. athletes, like professional athletes, wanted to wear. And so, he could get his. shoes onto athletes who would wear them. on the world stage. And eventually his. his I guess his tack won out over his.

brothers and and from from a very early. stage on Adidas has always led Puma at. least as far as like sales revenue goes. Yeah. And you know there were mistakes. from both of them along the way. business-wise. Um, one of the big ones. for Puma early on was that Rudolph got. into a spat with a coach of the the. German national soccer team. Uh, and of. course all that did was open the door. for his brother and uh, Adidas to go in.

there and say, "What about these shoes?". Which is exactly what happened. And so. at the 1954 World Cup, Germany wears uh, Adidas uh, with those signature stripes. And even though they were not favored. all uh at all, West Germany actually won. against uh who? Hungary, I believe. Yes. And that was a huge huge deal on a. national international stage. It was. like the miracle on ice on grass. You mean they were stoned? They were all. stoned out of their gourds.

The miracle on ice on grass. That That. might have legs, my friend. I think it. might, too. That's You need to trademark. that. Well, I do officially right now. Trademarked. I love it. So, uh, that was. one mistake. Um, Adidas would of course. go on to make some mistakes later. Um, I. know that that you sent that one article. where they talked about how, um, they. said, you know, at one point that like. jogging, no one's going to do that. So, we're not going to make jogging shoes, right? And aerobics, that's, uh, it's a.

flash in the pan. Sure. Who cares about. physical fitness? And so, you mentioned. Reebok earlier. It's hard for the young. folk out there who are listening to to. know this, but there was a time when. Reebok was the name in sports apparel. Well, plus all Yeah. And and Reebok, this article says that they lost their. way at some point, but the way that. Reebok kind of took the lead for a. little while was saying, "No, we'll get. into jogging. We'll get into aerobics. We'll make this stuff." Um, at a time.

when Adidas and Puma were ignoring it. One of the other mistakes that both. Adidas and Puma made was that they were. so focused on beating one another. Oh. man. They just completely dropped the. ball as it were on the rise of Nike. Yeah. And Nike was able to take over and. apparently right out of the gate and. since then Nike's always been the leader. in sports apparel. Yeah. And Adidas is. two and Puma's three, right? Yeah. Amazing. So you have an option these.

days. You can buy your sports apparel. from a company that's been known to use. child labor or company that used forced. French labor under the opaces of the. Nazi party in World War II. Hooray. Let's take a break. Yeah, we'll take a. break and we'll talk about how this rift. uh still oddly carries over in that town. today and run. DMC Y. [Music].

We should. [Music]. know. We should. know Y. All right. So, back in the day when they. first split off this company and that. river's running through this town, it. was a really big deal. Uh it wasn't just. a sibling rivalry. It it became a. townwide rivalry. Yeah. In that you you.

worked for one company or the other as a. family like uh husband and wife didn't. work they didn't split up and one worked. at Puma and one worked at Adidas and. plus I mean if you fell in love with. somebody from a family across the river. like you that was sorry that's you got a. Romeo and Juliet thing going on that. ain't gonna work out. Is that crazy? It. is. And I I was glad that this one of. the local historians who was interviewed. for one of these articles said it wasn't. like bloody or anything like no one lost.

their lives over this. It was just, you. know, if you worked for Puma, you stayed. on the Puma side of the river. If you. worked for Adidas, you stayed on the. Adidas side of the river. And each each. group kept to themselves. That was all. Yeah. And it still carries over to this. day. um some of those recent interviews. that we both read. I mean, it's. certainly now it's a little more. good-natured ribbing, but they say when. you walk around this town, uh walk. through a playground and you see will. you will see kids kitted out in all. Adidas or all Puma and this is carried.

down from generations where they were. Adidas or Puma families. And it was it. was a really big deal and still remains. so to this day such that the the mayor. who actually came from a Puma family Oh. yeah. But to be mayor, you can't, you. know, you got to be a politician. Sure. So, he will wear to some events, casual. events, Puma gear, and sometimes Adidas. gear. Uh, eventually in 2009, they had a. friendly soccer match between the the. official Puma sponsor team and Adidas.

team. And he wore one Puma shoe and one. Adidas shoe. Mhm. Just to remain. neutral, I guess. And to look like a. total jackass, probably. So, then it. showed him rubbing like his pum his. Adidas foot later on. They caught him on. camera. So, this was like you said, there was a a soccer game that was. played between Adidas and Puma, kind of. a reconciliation thing on um. International Peace Day back in I think. 2009. Yeah. Um that happened. Think. about this. The the R the Rudy and Audi.

Dler died in the 70s within four years. of each other. This was 2009 before the. companies finally kind of had this um. reconciliation game. Yeah. And yeah, today still it's like you kind of will. you'll gently, you know, make fun of. somebody wearing Adidas if you're a Puma. family or whatever, but while the. brothers were alive, you just steered clear of everybody who. was on the on the other side. So much so. that Herzo was known as the town of the.

lowered gaze because if you came upon. somebody on the street, you would look. at their shoes to see what shoes they. were wearing before you decided whether. you're going to talk to them or not. So. funny. It was that it was that. established. This these brothers hatred. and rivalry of one another. They didn't. speak for decades. um spread out into. the town that was divided by this river. and the town itself took. sides because of this rift between these. brothers that all started supposedly in.

this bomb shelter during World War II. Yeah. And the the mayor hacker his his. first name is German. Could that be. right? Uh maybe the. German the German or the journalist is. really lazy and didn't they were just. like it's a he's a German. We're just. going to call him that. I wonder if he. pronounces it. gman. That's what I would say. Or. Heramman cuz they don't say Germany over. there anyway. But don't Yeah, they say. Deutseland. Yeah, but but would would it. be Herman or No, I guess they spell the.

Herammans with an H. Yeah, I think it. would be Mayor Gman Haka, right? Oh, yeah, there is an H. G Haki Saka. who's on grass. Uh but he says uh if. someone someone comes in through the. door to this day your gaze still wanders. to their shoes. It's just in the DNA of. those people that this athletic gear is. so important. It's so strange. It's such. a cool cool weird story. It is a great.

story um of sibling rivalry and. bitterness and hatred. Uh and like you. said, they didn't speak for decades. apparently um much later in life. There. were a couple of times when they were. rumored to have spoken. Uh, once I think. they ran into each other at an airport. Uh, once they saw each other at a hotel. Uh, and I believe on the deathbed, which one tried to get in touch with the. other? Rudy. Rudy put out the call said, "I would like to see my brother Audi one.

more time." And Audi went, "No thanks. I'm good." Nine. Can you believe it? Yeah, man. That's that's tough. So they died. The family sold the um the. business in the 80s, late 80s and they. got um bought by um like corporate. conglomerates. Sure. Ironically, Puma. now owns Reebok and Gucci owns. Puma. Adidas is still just Adidas, but.

again, it's it's owned by like a mega. conglomerate. Um and they they've just. gone enormous and make billions of. dollars a year. So, the families aren't. necessarily involved, but one family. member still works in the business. His. name is Frank Dosler. I believe he was. Rudy's grandson, and he used to work at. Puma. He was pretty high up in Puma. Yeah. Now, he works as the head of the. legal department for Adidas. Man, switching sides. It's it's a pretty good.

indication of how how much the this cold. war is kind of thawed between the two. companies quite a bit because the people. who are running it have no skin in the. game. They don't they don't care. anymore, you know. Yeah. Or he's an. attorney and he was just after the most. money, right? He's like, "Let me suck. your blood.". So, we have a fun little postcript on. this. Uh I know we've been talking about. Run DMC. Mhm. Uh, and again, you. youngans, it might be second nature now. to associate athletic gear and uh, hiphop and rap music and culture, but.

back in the early 1980s, that was not. the case uh, until Run DMC came along. No, like your your rappers probably. dressed like a Gan King. Yeah. Um, or. maybe like uh the New York Dolls. Yeah. or just like I mean sometimes I feel. like I've seen just like denim jackets. and just sort of like just sort of. street wear which is the unhippest thing. I've ever said. It was pretty unhip. I. didn't want to say anything but I'm glad.

you street wear. So uh you know play. clothes. So Run DMC changed everything. when they released a single called My. Adidas. Yeah. And I saw elsewhere that. they released a single, My Adidas, kind. of in retaliation to a song, a song called Felen Shoes. So, have you. ever noticed that um RunDMC wore their. Adidas without laces with the tongues. popped out? Oh, I noticed that was. supposedly because that's how people in. prison had to wear their shoes because.

they weren't allowed to have shoelaces. and they were kind of saying like, "We're down with all of our buddies in. prison." Interesting. So this song fell. in Shoes basically was making fun of. that and basically teaching kids not to. not to emulate prisoners and uh RunDMC. took issue with that and they ended up. releasing my Adidas the song on Raising. Hell in 1986. Sorry, Raising Hell. Yes. Which I remember my family was on a a. bus to Disney World once, I think, and. the the windows were foggy and I was so.

into Run DMC I just wrote raising hell. in the fog on the window. Dude, people. on the bus thought that was really. hilarious. That is a great story. So, um, I was into my Adidas, too, because. of Run DMC, but it wasn't just me. Apparently, if you went to a Run DMC. show on the Raisin Hell tour or the. Together Forever tour in 1986 or 87, when they sang My Adidas, everybody. would take off their shoes and hold. their Adidas in the air. Yeah. That's. how that's how big of an impact this. song had. Yeah. And in 1986, uh, a.

senior employee at Adidas named Angelo. Anastasio went to that tour at Madison. Square Garden, saw this happen with the. Adidas sneakers and was like, "Hold on a. minute. Wait just a second. We could. have something here." Mhm. Ran back to. the headquarters and uh within just a. few days, they signed them to a. million-dollar endorsement deal. And. that was like a sea change forward for.

hip-hop groups getting money in all. sorts of ways. Yeah. And apparently it. made Adidas's sales just go through the. roof. Oh yeah. Yep. And it's like that. began the marriage of like I'm going to. put out a record. I'm going to get a. shoe deal. Uh I might uh get a a vodka. sponsor. Like Oh yeah. I'll get money. flowing in from all kinds of directions. And Run DMC started it all. A vodka. sponsor. That's hilarious. Sure. I feel. like I've seen that now. Oh, yeah. You. know, you totally have. Like P Diddy and.

Sarak vodka, I think. Yeah. Look, it. works. I associate P Diddy and Sarak. vodka. Andrew's nodding. That means. you're correct. Awesome. Thanks, Andrew. Jerry would have been like, "What? I'm. my miso's getting cold." Right. Can you. guys hurry up? Uh, we will hurry up. Ghost of Jerry. Uh, if you want to know. anything else about Adidas and Puma, we'll just go start reading up more. There's actually a book by a woman named. Barbara Schmidt called Sneaker Wars,

appropriately um all about the rift. between Adidas and Puma. So, if you want. to know more about it, that's a pretty. good place to start. And since I said. that, it's time for listener. mail. Yeah, I'm going to call this uh uh. sponges. Okay. Hey guys, I was listening. to Po and I was excited y'all mentioned. glass sponges, which are thought to be. the oldest animals on Earth. I am a PhD. student at the Scripps Institution of. Oceanography in San Diego, and I study.

marine sponges because they make all. sorts of unique molecules that can be. used as new medicines. I think sponges. are the coolest animals on Earth, and. I'd love to share some of my favorite. sponge fun facts. You ready? Not yet. Uh, not only are sponges thought to be. the oldest living uh single living. animals on Earth, but some evolutionary. biologists even think sponges were the. first animals to ever evolve. In other. words, our last common animal ancestor. could very well have been a sponge. That's so cool. Uh, did you know the.

first antiviral drug approved by the FDA. was developed from a molecule in a sea. sponge? I didn't until just now. As a. PhD student, I collect and study sponges. because they are known to produce. thousands of bioactive molecules, many. of which have med uh medicinal. potential. I think it's pretty. incredible that the ocean may hold the. cure to some of the most devastating. human diseases. And I hope my work might. inspire people to protect the world's. oceans and the valuable resources within. them. That's awesome. Heck yeah. Thanks. for all the hard work you guys put into.

the show. Y'all have kept me company on. many long night in the lab with my. sponges. That's awesome. Oh, it makes me. want to go chew on a sponge and see what. happens. That's right. That's from uh. Kayla Wilson from San Diego. Thanks a. lot, Kayla. Thanks for the work you're. doing, too. Thank you for saving. humanity from grave diseases. Yeah, we'll look into these sponges, as you. call them. If you uh want us to look into anything. that we put in quotes, well, we want to. know about it. You can go on to our.

website, stuffyou know.com, follow us on. our social links there. You can get in. touch with us. You can also send us a. good oldfashioned email. Wrap it up. Spank that thing on the bottom and send. it off to. [Music]. stuffodcast@owstuffworks.com. Stuff you. should know is a production of iHeart. Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].