Robbery at the Louvre: the staircase maker's entertaining campaign

Advertisement from the German manufacturer for a truck equipped with a ladder that rises mechanically, published with a photo of the theft, went viral around the world

The German manufacturer of the mobile ladder used in the Louvre robbery took advantage of the moment of attention to use humor and advertise its product.

On social media, Böcker Maschinenwerke GmbH published an image of the truck parked in front of the Louvre. At the bottom of the photo there is an orange banner with the slogan:

“If you’re in a hurry.”

Below the slogan, there is also a product description that also makes reference to theft, saying that the equipment carries “your treasures” quickly and silently.

The original post went viral and has more than 47 thousand likes on Instagram. It was such a success that Böcker published a new version of the ad this Friday (24), now in English. The idea made news around the world.

Böcker is a family company based in Werne, Germany. The elevator used is the Böcker Agilo model.

Advertising ideas came as soon as photos appeared

To the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, the company’s owner and managing director, Alexander Böcker, said that he recognized that the mobile ladder had been manufactured by them because the rails are unique.

He also says he identified the company name on the bottom of the equipment.

“What a surprise, especially when it comes to a medium-sized family company associated with such a global event!”

Alexander said that as soon as they recognized the moving staircase and were sure that no one was injured in the robbery at the Louvre, ideas began to emerge on how to use that situation as propaganda.

He reports that he thought of some less subtle options, such as “it pays for itself in seven minutes”. However, they did not follow this line because, according to the company owner, they do not want to attract this type of consumer.

Alexander’s wife and the company’s head of marketing, Julia Scharwatz, had the final idea and they acted quickly to acquire the image rights and publish the advertisement on Monday (20).

The company director states that they were not afraid of being misunderstood:

“I think most people will understand the humor.”

He reports that he has received only a few negative comments from French people.

Remember the case

Last Sunday (19), thieves broke into the Louvre Museum, in Paris, and stole French crown jewels that experts classify as “inestimable value”.

In the action, they parked a truck outside the museum and used the mechanically elevated mobile ladder to access a room on the top floor. They broke the window, stole the pieces and escaped.

The whole process lasted about 7 minutes and they fled on a motorcycle. Yesterday, images of the criminals descending the same mobile ladder they used to access the room were released.