German company behind truck-lift used in Louvre heist launches ad campaign

PARIS – On Oct 19, when thieves

climbed to a second-floor window of the Louvre

, grabbed jewels of staggering worth and descended to their getaway scooters via a furniture lift, many in France were stunned and furious.

But the German company that made the lift saw a once-in-a-lifetime marketing opportunity.

Mr Alexander Bocker, CEO of the German machinery company Bocker, and his wife, Ms Julia Scharwatz, recognised their Agilo truck-lift instantly, he said in an interview with Reuters on Oct 23.

A day after the heist, they rolled out a new advertising campaign on social media.

“When you’re in a hurry, the Bocker Agilo carries your heavy treasures,” the ad boasted under a photo of the lift parked outside the Louvre.

Their speedy marketing campaign captured an internet frenzy about the heist, which took less than 10 minutes and left no injuries except French pride. The company bought the rights to the photo on the morning of Oct 20 after a bit of brainstorming by Mr Bocker, Ms Scharwatz and their employees.

“We have even had feedback from abroad saying, ‘Hey, you Germans do have a sense of humour after all,’” Mr Bocker said in the Reuters interview.

Bocker’s headquarters in Werne, a town in western Germany, is nearly 644km from the Louvre. Ms Scharwatz said in an interview with The Guardian that the Louvre thieves had stolen the Agilo lift from a company in Paris, which bought it from Bocker in 2020.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr Bocker told Reuters that they decided to make the ad only after it became clear that no one had been hurt, and they had not actively promoted the ad in France. At home, though, the ad has been a hit with Germans who seem to be feeling at least some schadenfreude – or pleasure from their neighbour’s misfortune.

“Excellent,” wrote a commenter on Bocker’s Instagram post. “This is German quality.” NYTIMES