- Startup Spells 🪄
- Posts
- Puma's $120k Pelé Deal at the 1970 World Cup
Puma's $120k Pelé Deal at the 1970 World Cup
PLUS: Write a Killer Script Like The Top 1% of YouTubers
Startup Spells 🪄
December 02, 2025
Puma's $120k Pelé Deal at the 1970 World Cup
Some of the sharpest 30 seconds in ad history came from Puma paying Pelé $120,000 to kneel and fix his laces before the 1970 World Cup final.
Ambush marketing is when you piggyback on a spotlight someone else bought, and make people remember you instead.
Mexico City, 1970, is where that trick went legendary.
The Family Feud That Built a Billion-Dollar Sneaker War
Adolf and Rudolf Dassler started a shoe company in their mother's laundry room. They hated each other.
They split the company. Adolf started Adidas. Rudolf started Puma.
By 1970, they controlled the sports shoe market. They also realized that bidding on the world's best player, Pelé, would bankrupt them both.
They signed the "Pelé Pact"—a formal agreement. Neither company would sign Pelé. It was a truce to save their margins.
But Rudolf Dassler from Puma couldn't help himself.
The Sneaky $120k Stunt That Stole FIFA's Spotlight
Hans Henningsen worked as a representative for Puma. He saw an opportunity to break the pact and steal the World Cup audience.
He offered Pelé $120,000 to wear Puma Kings. That's over $1 million in 2025 adjusted for inflation.
The contract had one specific clause: Pelé had to ask the referee for a moment before kickoff.
The cameras were rolling. The world was watching.
Pelé walked to the center circle. He signaled the official. He knelt down.
Pelé tying his Puma King boots at the 1970 World Cup
He spent the next few seconds slowly tying his laces.
The cameraman zoomed in. The whole world stared at a pair of Puma Kings.
They didn't buy a commercial slot. They didn't sponsor the tournament. They just hijacked the moment.
Barbara Smit documents in her German book DREI STREIFEN GEGEN PUMA (translated as Three Stripes Versus Puma) that Puma enjoyed a 300% increase in sales after the tournament. Some sources argue it was the strongest financial year in Puma’s history.
In a flash, Puma shifted from the “other” German brand to an international football icon.
The Psychology Tricks That Made This Stunt Unforgettable
If you zoom out from the shoelace and the drama, the Pelé stunt really comes down to a handful of simple psychology tricks that are deceptively simple to replicate:
Own the moment: They didn't buy media time. They hijacked peak attention at kickoff. Find where everyone is looking and put yourself in front of it.
Visuals beat slogans: There was no jingle. No copy. The message was simple: Pelé wears Puma. Make your product demonstration so clear that a single screenshot tells the whole story.
Use the drama: The broken "Pelé Pact" made the story travel. People love rivalry. Ride existing narratives instead of inventing new ones.
Buy the strongest signal: Most brands scatter their budget. Puma put everything on one person. Overpay for one perfect proof point instead of a dozen mediocre ones.
Design for the myth: We're still reading about this 50 years later. Don't just buy impressions. Create a legend.
Adidas had the official contract. They had the rules on their side. They had the money. Puma had the wits.
In the war for attention, the smartest player usually beats the richest one. The Pelé shoelace stunt is one of the most profitable and enduring ambush marketing moves ever: tiny execution cost relative to the attention generated, a likely multi-million-dollar upside, and a brand story that refuses to die.
Top Tweets of the day
1/
Paypal is good for protection.
2/
Love this tip.
3/
Smart way to estimate how many users an app has using Google Apps.
Most tech people think like tech people but there is an entire world beyond tech people that use apps and they don't care about controversy and all (see how many problematic celebs get movies) if the app they are using solves their problem.
Rabbit Holes
What’d ya think of today’s newsletter? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know.
Do me a favor and share it in your company's Slack #marketing channel.
First time? Subscribe.
Follow me on X.
Reply