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Interesting Stories Behind Famous Brands

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By Dean GeePublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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Interesting Stories Behind Famous Brands
Photo by Karol Smoczynski on Unsplash

I always find it intriguing how the vision in someone’s head starts off in a back room or garage and years later is being traded on the stock exchange, long live entrepreneurs and their innovation.

Some global brands have extremely interesting origin stories, and this list is not exhaustive. Read on to find the brands with interesting origin stories.

One thing that is apparent is that many brands are born from conflict, think Facebook, and two others I have listed below are also the products of conflict.

Virgin

Virgin got its name because the founders were virgins, yes I know what you are thinking. No way!

Well, they were virgins in one respect. They were virgins in the world of business, having never ventured into the business world before. Nic Powell and Richard Branson were ‘new kids on the block’ but they dominated the block that they were on in so many ways.

They may have been virgins in the business world, but what a brand they created.

FedEx

FedEx, a weekend in Vegas, saved FedEx. Fred Smith, the owner and founder, won $27,000 in Vegas, and this winning meant he could pay his fuel bill of $24,000, which would have been the main reason to close the business down. Fred had impulsively taken a flight to Vegas while waiting or another flight, or so the legend goes.

BMW

BMW Started as an aircraft manufacturing company, and it was World War1 that made the company change its ways into motor car manufacturing.

BMW had to cease producing aircraft as part of the agreement with world powers.

BMW then pivoted to motorcycle manufacture and later on, they began manufacturing cars in 1928. As they say, invention is the mother of necessity.

The BMW logo is a reminder of their aviation history.

Lamborghini

The pride of a man created a competitor. Enzo Ferrari is the man, and his pride created the rival sports car model Lamborghini. Feruccio Lamborghini was the owner of the Lamborghini tractor corporation, and he had an interest in luxury sports cars. He had purchased a Ferrari, but noticed that the clutch wasn’t working. He approached Enzo Ferarri about it, and he had noticed that the Ferrari used the same clutch as his tractors.

Enzo Ferrari dismissed him with a haughty attitude, sarcastically remarking that he was a tractor manufacturer and knew nothing about high performance vehicles. Enter Lamborghini performance vehicles.

Ferarri still looms large over Lamborghini, but from their humble beginnings of a tractor manufacturer, Lamborghini holds its own.

Puma and Adidas

The two brands were born from a family rivalry in the 1920s. Two brothers who ran a shoe manufacturing factory in Germany. Rudolph and Adolph ran the Dassler Brothers shoe factory.

During and after World War 2, the brothers Rudolf and Adolph had a sibling rivalry, because of a misunderstanding. Rudolph was captured by US soldiers and they accused him of being a member of the ‘Wafen-SS’.

Rudolph was suspicious of his brother and believed that his brother had framed him, because he was not a member of the Wafen-SS.

This split in the family resulted in Rudolph forming ‘Ruda’, which is now Puma and Adolph forming Adidas.

The two never reconciled.

Adidas continues to dominate Puma in earnings and according to Statista. ‘In 2020, Adidas had a net income of 674 billion euros, in comparison Puma’s net income amounted to 229.7 million euros.’ Source linked below.’

UPS

A teenager founded UPS, his name was James Casey, and he founded the company with $100 that he had borrowed from a friend and he got on his bicycle. That’s not an expression. He literally got on his bicycle and delivered packages.

James was founder and CEO, and UPS is one of the largest package delivery companies in the world today.

Mc Donalds

The ‘M’ in Mc Donalds did not inspire the company logo. People often think The ‘M’ in Mc Donalds is the inspiration for the logo, however, this is merely a coincidence. The initial store designs had golden arches on both sides of the store and this was the inspiration for one of the most famous brand logos worldwide.

The reason for the golden arches was to give the stores a distinct look and make them easily discernable from afar.

Interesting fact is that Mc Donalds is one of the greatest toy distributors in the world and also one of the largest landowners too.

Coca-Cola

This iconic brand would not exist without American prohibition. John Pemberton, an injured Confederate Colonel who, because of of his injuries, developed a morphine addiction, created Coca-Cola. From its humble beginnings, it started out as a substitute for his morphine addiction. It was at first marketed as a nerve tonic and called ‘French Wine Coca.’

Prohibition Legislation of 1886 forced Pemberton to reformulate. He had to make an alcohol free version of his tonic. He renamed the drink Coca-Cola. And the rest is history populated with profits and corporate power.

Whatever vision you may have as an entrepreneur, go for it. Do not rob the world of your potential and expertise. The road may be bumpy, but one day perhaps someone like me will write about your brand’s origin story.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed researching it. Let me know your thoughts?

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About the Creator

Dean Gee

Inquisitive Questioner, Creative Ideas person. Marketing Director. I love to write about life and nutrition, and navigating the corporate world.

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