9 rare photos of people who name some of the most famous brands in the world

Some famous brands have been around for over 100 years and even after so long, few people know who founded them and what are the stories behind the origin of their names.

O awesome.club decided to research a little more about it and found very interesting stories behind some brands that almost everyone knows. Check it out right now!

Most likely you or someone you know has or has had a Barbie as a child. Interestingly, few people know the founder of Mattel, the company that manufactures the doll. Her name is Ruth Handler, and she named the Barbie doll after her daughter, Barbara Millicent Roberts. Ruth created Barbie after seeing her daughter and a few friends playing with other dolls.

If you like iced tea, you’ve probably heard of the Lipton brand. It was Thomas Johnston Lipton, owner of a tea company in 1887, who founded the brand.

Mercedez-Benz was founded by Emil Jellinek and Karl Benz. However, the name “Mercedes”, which is part of the company name, was given in honor of Jellinek’s daughter.

The Nike brand was inspired by the young Michael Jordan to create a new line of shoes. The line was called “Air Jordan” and in 1984 it launched its first pair, produced exclusively for the player. However, it was not so easy to promote its launch.

Back then, there was a very strict rule that basketball players had to wear only white sneakers on the court. However, Nike agreed to pay the $ 5,000 fine whenever Michael Jordan wore the shoe in a match. The strategy worked and the first pairs sold out quickly, generating sales of 50,000 dollars. And that was just the beginning.

Interestingly, the “jump man” logo, which would appear a little later, was actually a reference to a photo of the player performing a ballet move in mid-air called a grand jeté.

René Lacoste was one of the greatest tennis players in the world; he was so determined that he was given the nickname “the crocodile”. Lacoste liked his new nickname so much that he asked a friend to sew a crocodile onto one of his white jackets. And that’s how the brand started.

It all started in his mother’s kitchen in Germany. Adi Dassler had a dream to provide athletes with the best sports equipment in the world and in 1924 he founded the “Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik”.

But the most important moment for the brand came only in 1954, when Germany and Hungary faced each other in a match and Germany, using Dassler equipment, won. The brand drew a lot of attention and little by little became what it is today.

Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by two car-loving friends in a small garage in London. Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford took their passion to the next level when they decided to start making cars on their own.

The Aston Martin name we know today has a fascinating history. Lionel Martin participated in the “Aston Clinton Hill Climb” race in one of the cars they made themselves and with which they won. In this way, the family name, “Martin”, was placed next to the name of the race he won, generating the brand name.

The famous Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand was founded in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. It all started in a small gas station they had renovated and turned into a store in Burlington, Vermont. The duo invested roughly $12,000 to make their dream come true.

Little by little they started producing more and more ice creams, selling to different restaurant chains. In 1981, due to high demand, the first store was opened in Shelburne, also in the Vermont region. And the result is the great success we know today.

Ingvar Kamprad is the founder of the IKEA store. It all started with selling matches at a very low price. But from then on he gave his imagination free rein and started creating other products.

A curious fact about the name of the company is that it is an abbreviation: he took the initials of his name, the first letter of the farm where he grew up, Elmtaryd, and the first letter of the city where he lived, Agunnaryd.

Do you know other famous brands that hide an interesting story? And do you know what their names mean? Tell in the comments.