BIRKENSTOCK's are 'Ugly for a Reason', admits brand in provocative docu-series

Footwear company BIRKENSTOCK has launched a new provocative global campaign titled "Ugly for a Reason"– a three-part video documentary that shines a light on the human foot. The campaign aims to raise awareness of consumers all around the world on the importance of foot health and the role footwear plays to maintain it. The campaign is in the tradition of the lectures in which master shoemaker Konrad Birkenstock educated his peers in Germany and parts of Europe in the 1920s about diseases of the foot related to wrong footwear and the means to alleviate them - a tradition that was later to be continued by his son Carl Birkenstock and his grandson Karl.

The campaign is produced by T Brand, the content studio of New York Times Advertising. The content campaign will be published on nytimes.com, BIRKENSTOCK.com and all other online channels of the global lifestyle brand and inventor of the footbed. The first episode of the campaign premiered last week on 1 July 2022 and will subsequently be supported by a media activation initiative over the entire four-month campaign period,  making the foot visible in every corner of The New York Times through a launch takeover in print and online displaying the higher purpose BIRKENSTOCK.

Oliver Reichert, CEO of the BIRKENSTOCK Group: "Foot health is at the heart of everything we do at BIRKENSTOCK. This campaign has been developed to inform consumers about the marvels of the foot.”

“With our campaign, we want to stage the human foot - and address the role of proper footwear for our health. Most people are born with healthy feet and develop painful foot issues because the shoes we're wearing are often too small, too narrow or have heels that are too high. We want to draw attention to this and enable consumers to make better-informed decisions - no matter which footwear brand they ultimately choose,” he added.

The series' opening chapter delves into what role the feet play in evolution. Another important aspect is the importance of foot health. The first episode shows different activities in which feet are used, using shots of runners and dancers, highlighting how our feet are our only inherent mode of transport. The documentary includes interview sequences from conversations with the two distinguished scientists Carol Ward, Curator's Professor of Paleontology at the University of Missouri, and Benno M. Nigg, Professor of Biomechanics at the University of Calgary.

The second episode is scheduled for 11 August 2022 and will look at how to fix the future of foot health, through the lens of BIRKENSTOCK's heritage in orthopedics. The third will be on 21 September 2022, and investigates why functional design, quality and responsibility are important for foot health.

Meanwhile, other brands such as Adidas have come up with creative ways to promote their footwear. In 2021, it launched its largest Southeast Asia brand centre at Sunway Pyramid in Malaysia which incorporates Malaysian elements, such as prominent local landmarks within the store interior.

May this year, PUMA  Southeast Asia had also launched a unique footwear campaign, activating its female ambassadors across the region to don its new shoes and participate in food delivery as part of its #PUMADeliveryRun campaign. At the same time, food delivery professionals were also chosen by the sportswear brand to be the face of the campaign, given that food delivery is a time-sensitive one and delivery runners are always light on their feet. 

Related articles:
adidas marries Malaysian culture into global identity with new SEA brand centre
PUMA SEA engages female ambassadors to deliver food on foot