These new Puma trainers said to look like Adolf Hitler, are causing quite the controversy

This is a publicity stunt that Puma could have done without. As reported in the Daily Mail, the German brand is currently facing a lot of criticism on social media due to the design of one of its new pair of trainers, called Storm Adrenaline, which has been pointed out by internet users as resembling... Adolf Hitler.

If the similarity is not striking at first glance, it is by looking at the trainers from above that internet users discovered that they were oddly reminiscent of the German dictator's face. Indeed, the wide black stripe on the tip of the toes looks like his hairline, and the small black mark on the tongue is reminiscent of his characteristic moustache.

'8 out of 10 on the Hitler scale'

'8 out of 10 on the Hitler scale,' said one internet user. He also pointed out the name of the pair of trainers, in which some see a reference to the Sturmabteilung, a paramilitary organisation in the German Nazi party.

But not all internet users necessarily see Adolf Hitler in the pair of trainers. In several messages posted on Twitter, some say they look more like American writer Edgar Allen Poe, or Russian playwright Nikolai Gogol. Although they were asked to explain the design of their new pair of trainers, Puma has not yet reacted to this controversy.