How a Ladder Company Turned Louvre Heist Photo Into a Viral Ad Campaign

As the saying attributed to P.T. Barnum goes, “There is no such thing as bad publicity.” German company Böcker certainly subscribes to the view after turning a press photo of one of its ladders used in the daring Louvre Museum heist into a viral marketing campaign.

Böcker is a German lift technology company founded in 1958. The relatively small company, with just over 600 employees, focuses primarily on mobile cranes and ladders. One of its products, the Böcker Agilo, was used by the thieves who broke into the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris on October 19.

Using the vehicle-mounted Böcker lift, two of four total suspects entered the Louvre’s Galerie d’Apollon via a balcony shortly after 9:30 AM local time, while the museum was open to the public. Two thieves cut through a window using power tools, entered the museum, threatened guards, and sliced through two glass display cases. The thieves were inside for four minutes, according to French authorities, and escaped at 9:38 AM on a pair of waiting scooters carrying an estimated €88 million, or $102.4 million, of stolen jewels. This estimated value does not account for the significant cultural value of the stolen items.

In the aftermath of the robbery on the morning of Sunday, October 19, many images were sent across the international newswires, including a photo by Dimitar Dilkoff for Agence France-Presse (AFP) showing the Böcker Agilo lift elevated from a work truck up to the balcony where a pair of thieves made their brazen daylight break-in.

Alexander Böcker, the third-generation owner of Böcker Maschinenwerke GmbH and managing director, told CNN that he and his wife were “shocked” when they saw the news from Paris and saw that their company’s lift had been used.

“Once the initial shock had subsided, black humor took over,” Böcker says. “We joked around a bit, had some fun and came up with some initial slogans.”

The company licensed the AFP photo and began running a campaign on Monday. The original German version shows the image with text that translates to: “When things have to go quickly. The Böcker Agilo transports your treasures weighing up to 400 kg at 42 m/min — whisper-quiet thanks to its 320 V electric motor.”

Böcker published an English version later in the week after receiving many requests, and it is slightly different than the literal translation: “If you’re in a hurry. The Böcker Agilo carries your treasures up to 400 kg 42 m/min — quiet as a whisper thanks to its 230 V electric motor.”

Böcker says the Agilo product used for the heist is mainly used for construction work, and that this particular unit had been sold to a customer in the Greater Paris area who rents it to clients. The unit had apparently been stolen during a recent demonstration for a prospective customer, per CNN.

Böcker says the response to the company’s tongue-in-cheek ad campaign has been “overwhelming” and primarily positive.

“Luckily for us, most of the people got the humor and know that we are not involved in the robbery and we were very pleased with the reaction so far,” Böcker told Reuters about his company’s ad campaign.

As expected, French authorities are not laughing about the robbery. The heist has brought immense embarrassment to the country, and exposed significant flaws in the Louvre’s security and technology infrastructure, despite it housing artwork worth at least $35 billion, according to French historian Patrice de Moncan.

Although two suspects were arrested over the weekend in connection with the robbery, none of the stolen items have been recovered and experts fear they have already been broken down into smaller parts, rendering them impossible to trace.

Image credits: Header photo is an advertisement by German machine firm, Böcker, using an image the company licensed from AFP. The original photo was captured by Dimitar Dilkoff.