B&T’s decided to go COVID-19-free today in our reporting so, instead, we’re bringing you an all-the-more cheery kerfuffle over a new pair of trainers that many people have decided bear an uncanny resemblance to history’s greatest ever despot, Adolf Hitler.
Somewhat ironically, German sportswear giant Puma has unveiled a new pair of sneakers called “Storm Adrenaline” which are retailing online for a very reasonable $US45.
However, keen trainer observers have noted the shoes bear an uncanny resemblance to the Führer’s slicked down hairdo and (in)famous moustache.
Social media has even suggested the shoes’ name evokes that of the Nazi paramilitary wing, the Sturmabteilung, whose name translates as Storm Detachment.
Here are the shoes:
And here’s Adolf:
While it’s also been noted that Puma’s founder, Rudolf Dassler, was a member of the Nazi Party during WW2.
Meanwhile, social media is divided on whether the trainers resemble the man responsible for some 75 million deaths between 1939 and 1945.
“I never noticed. I used the shoe twice and never realised it until now. I have gotten rid of it. I’ve already sold it,” tweeted one.
Another awarded the likeness an “8/10 on the Hitler scale”.
While another suggested it was some sort of marketing ploy on behalf of Puma: ‘They do look somewhat similar. Publicity stunt maybe?”
While others were all the more sceptical, “Adolf Hitler shoes? I did not see it directly. I think it’s a bit far-fetched. Good I have Adidas, not Puma,” another one-believer wrote.
The shoe design has also been said to resemble writer Edgar Allen Poe and Russian dramatist Nikolai Gogol.
