Adidas vs Puma family feud to get TV adaptation

New Delhi: A bruising corporate battle that changed the course of global sportswear is heading to television. The infamous family feud between the Dassler brothers, Adi and Rudolf, founders of Adidas and Puma respectively, will soon be turned into a major international TV series. 

But beyond the drama, the show could revive global curiosity about the deep-rooted rivalry that defined the DNA of two of the world’s biggest sports brands and carry powerful business lessons for today’s corporate world.

The project, reportedly greenlit by international producers and backed by top creative talent, aims to chronicle the rise of the Dassler brothers from their humble beginnings in Herzogenaurach, Germany, to the eventual split that divided a family, a town, and ultimately the global athletic wear industry.

The story that shaped an industry

Adi Dassler founded Adidas in 1949 after a bitter fallout with his brother Rudolf, who launched Puma in the same small town. Their split gave birth to a rivalry that not only reshaped the business of sports marketing but also institutionalised the idea of brand loyalty at a hyper-local level.

Their feud turned Herzogenaurach into a divided town, with locals choosing sides: one half worked at Adidas, the other at Puma. Schools, shops, even football clubs were aligned with either brand. The brothers never reconciled, and they were buried at opposite ends of the same cemetery.

What to expect from the TV series

From a business standpoint, this series comes at a time when brand storytelling and legacy narratives are being aggressively leveraged in marketing strategies. But the Adidas-Puma saga offers more than branding. It offers a masterclass in how personal conflicts can bleed into corporate strategy, and how competitive rivalries, when channelled correctly, can create category-defining innovation.

Their rivalry led to some of the earliest examples of athlete endorsements, think Jesse Owens running in Dassler spikes at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Over time, this evolved into global sports marketing behemoths, with Adidas aligning with football and streetwear culture and Puma carving out a niche with performance and lifestyle segments.

The series could be a double-edged sword for the two brands. On one hand, it revives their legacy in a gripping, content-rich format that appeals to today’s storytelling-hungry generation. On the other, it may also rehash unresolved narratives that are uncomfortable or no longer aligned with either company’s modern positioning.

Adidas, now grappling with leadership churn and brand identity issues post-Kanye West era, and Puma, which is seen as punching below its weight globally despite strong product lines, could both benefit from renewed consumer attention. However, the lens of family drama might overshadow present-day innovations unless both brands proactively steer the conversation.

The series is part of a broader trend of turning legacy corporate histories into high-stakes entertainment, think “The Playlist” on Spotify, or “WeCrashed” on WeWork. 

For Adidas and Puma, the difference is that this isn’t just corporate, it’s personal. Which also makes it inherently more marketable.