It was the most successful movie of the year with worldwide box office takings of 1.36 billion dollars (equivalent to around 1.26 billion euros): Barbie. But it wasn’t just at the box office that the Hollywood flick scored big. Barbie also set a new record in terms of licensing. According to press reports, Barbie manufacturer Mattel has signed licensing agreements with more than 100 companies to market the blockbuster: pink toothbrushes, game consoles, roller skates. Mattel earns money from every product sold.

With one major exception. And this relates to the very product that plays a significant supporting role in the movie – as the antithesis to the pink Barbie world. We are talking about our Birkenstock sandals: The filmmakers had included a mocha-colored pair of Birkoflor Arizona sandals in a key scene of the film (a second pink pair even appeared at the very end of the film).

When Barbie realizes in a moment of shock that her heels are touching the ground, she asks the magician “Weird Barbie” for advice. She gives her a choice: back to her old Barbie world if she opts for the pink Manolo Blahnik high heel. Or slip into the iconic deep-footbed sandal and learn the truth about the universe in return. The rest is movie history.

Contrary to what many media speculate, Birkenstock did not pay a cent for this involuntary film appearance. Obviously, the release of the film has no connection with Birkenstock’s IPO, contrary to what some newspapers have speculated. The truth is: the screenwriter simply incorporated our sandals into the film because the punchline only works with this, our product. Product placement reinvented.

Birkenstock has come full circle. When Barbie was launched in the USA in 1959, with stilettos on her feet of course, doctors warned of foot and posture damage. Karl Birkenstock rejected this (“toxic”) shoe fashion and opposed it in 1963 with the deep footbed sandal he developed. Barbie’s outdated body image had long seemed out of date. The feminist remake brought her image back into line with the feminist zeitgeist – to a place where Birkenstock has always been.

So, it wasn’t Birkenstock that had a Barbie moment, as many media headlines claimed. Rather, Barbie had a Birkenstock moment.