Most of us have our favourite brands that we stick to tried and true, and yah, we may stick it to our friends if they’re wearing a different brand we don’t feel compeled to buy, but that doesn’t mean we’re not friends at the end of the day. Although, for the small German town of Herzogenaurach… wearing a certain brand meant which side of the town you resided on, and decided who in your family you could and couldn’t see.

Now why… WHY would that be such a factor. Well, the town was home to the two original headquarters and factories of Adidas and Puma. Each company was founded by two siblings by the names of Adolf and Rudolf Dassler. The two originally worked together and founded the Geda shoe company, but after WWII and a family feud, the two seperated, Adolf created Adidas and Rudolf created Puma. The family was the first thing to split, but as each brother’s comapny grew larger and larger, the town itself, much like the Dassler family, was sliced in half.

https://flic.kr/p/2jgUzXi

(Chris / Flickr)

The small German municipality was seperated culturally and physcially with a river dividing the town in two. One side, team Adidas, the other, team Puma. Each town repped the garments of their profound wardrobe overlords, almost like it was a gang turf. If you were on the Puma side of town repping your brand new NMDs… you would’ve had to put them to the test and run away from the posse of Puma supporters.

The companies divided the town, along with families from the town, so far that the two sides of town even had their own football teams that were the bitterest of rivals… and wouldn’t you know?.. each team was sponsored by their respective altheltic wardrobe kingpins.

Over the years, especially after the deaths of Adolf and Rudolf, tensions have somewhat settled. Both sides of town still possess each brand’s headquarters and the cultural impact hasn’t been lost. It really does go to show you how much influence one can have on a small population though, to turn a town against one another over something we might view as “petty”. Overall, I believe this whole situation is the greatest example of a certain phenomenon…

Sibling rivalry.