When two of the greatest and oldest brands in world went head to head, and made a pact which had the best footballer involved!
But unlucky now, in the early days of the so-called "sneaker wars" between rival shoe companies Adidas and Puma, athlete endorsements were seen as a much bigger risk.
Sneakers and shoes were a big part of getting the brand much needed marketing and was a part of the process of shoe selling.
As the two brands tried out do each other, the results were financially damaging. In addition, the companies began to spend too much time trying to one up each other.
Image Courtesy: Soccerbible.com
This was especially evident during the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City where Adidas actually had Puma sneakers confiscated by custom officials! Things had gotten so crazy that in the lead up to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, the two companies actually decided to come to a sort of "peace treaty" and to avoid the dealings that had marked their relationship for most of the 1960s.
The Greatest Pact:
As the brands realized that they where spending too much money on outdoing and signing big names, the mutually came to a conclusion which was called the, "Pele Pact".
The "Pele Pact," was where both companies agreed NOT to sign a deal with Pele, the greatest football player in the world at the time.
Why?
Because the brands thought, they would both end up spending so much money on a bidding war that it would not be worth it in the end.
But in a smart move, Puma out did the rivals Adidas. Puma sent a representative to the Brazil team named Hans Henningsen. Henningsen was a reporter who had become quite friendly with the Brazilian team. Pele and Henningsen spent some time together and Pele was irked that Henningsen, who spent time trying to sign all the other Brazilian team members, never tried to sign him. Finally, Henningsen decided that enough was enough and he made a bold decision. He worked out a deal with Pele without approval from Puma!
He offered Pele $25,000 for the 1970 World Cup and $100,000 for the next four years (plus a cut of the sales of Pele brand sneakers). Henningsen brought the offer to Armin Dassler, the head of Puma and Dassler decided that the deal was just too good to pass up. So he agreed to the offer and he and Henningsen delivered the money to Pele. Part of their deal involved Pele intentionally asking for time before the opening of the final match, so that the cameras would all pan down to him tying his Puma brand sneakers.
That moment changed everything, Brazil's 1970 national team was one of the greatest World Cup teams in the history of the tournament. They were playing Italy in the final match of the tournament. It was one of the most highly anticipated football matches in years.
Right before the opening whistle, Pele asked the referee for a moment to tie his sneakers. All eyes were on Pele as he bent over to tie his sneakers....Puma sneakers.