German family-run business Böcker, based in North Rhine-Westphalia, became an accidental accomplice in the weekend’s highest-profile Louvre Museum heist — after one of its mechanical lifts played a key role in the audacious heist.
On Sunday, perpetrators parked a truck with a lifting platform at the Louvre, used it to climb onto a terrace, and from there forced their way into the interior of the building and stole crown jewels worth €88 million in the space of seven minutes.
And just one day after the robbery, Böcker decided to react with a post loaded with sharp humour, turning the theft into marketing gold, after learning that nobody was hurt during the heist. The post features its now-infamous furniture ladder stretched up to a balcony outside the Apollo Gallery.
The company’s management superimposed the slogan over a crime scene photo. “When you need to move fast,” the caption reads, “the Böcker Agilo transports your treasures weighing up to 400kg at 42m/min — quiet as a whisper.”
Speaking to AFP, managing director Alexander Böcker said they decided to add “a touch of humour” to the situation. “The crime is, of course, absolutely reprehensible, that’s completely clear to us,” Mr Böcker said.
“It was… an opportunity for us to use the most famous and most visited museum in the world to get a little attention for our company.”
Online reaction to the cheeky ad has been positive, with comments ranging from “This might be the best ad I’ve seen this year!” to “brilliant marketing move”.
“Your messaging takes the crown,” one user joked.
Böcker confirmed the lift was sold years ago to a French rental firm, from whom the thieves allegedly “borrowed” it after arranging a fake demonstration last week.
Caught on camera
Adding to the online buzz around the heist, fresh footage of the incident has surfaced on social media, showing the culprits’ unhurried escape.
The 36-second clip, filmed from a nearby window overlooking the Quai François Mitterrand, shows two men in black — one in a hi-vis vest, the other in a motorcycle helmet — descending on the Böcker ladder from the museum’s Apollo Gallery.
The robbery, which took place at around 9:30 CEST on Sunday, lasted between six and seven minutes and involved four people who were unarmed, but threatened guards with angle grinders, according to Paris prosecutor Laura Beccuau.
Officials said nine pieces were targeted, but eight were stolen, from the Napoleon and the Empress’ jewellery collection in the Apollo Gallery, including a necklace, a brooch, a tiara and more.
One object was later found outside the museum, Dati said. French media identified it as the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds. It was reportedly recovered broken.
French President Emmanuel Macron reacted to the robbery on X. He wrote: “The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our History. We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”