{"id":220504,"date":"2025-10-23T14:51:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T14:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/220504\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:51:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T14:51:06","slug":"quiet-as-a-whisper-german-firm-launches-campaign-after-lift-was-used-in-louvre-heist-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/220504\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Quiet as a whisper\u2019: German firm launches campaign after lift was used in Louvre heist | Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

A family run German business unwittingly became wrapped up in the crown jewel heist at the Louvre museum in Paris<\/a> and is turning the use of one of its furniture lifts into a publicity coup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you need to move fast\u201d is the new tongue-in-cheek advertising tagline for the company B\u00f6cker, which is based in the town of Werne near Dortmund, in a campaign on Facebook and Instagram<\/a> mounted within a day of the brazen thefts.<\/p>\n

The posts feature a picture of the now world-famous Agilo furniture elevator that the thieves used to gain entry to the museum through a window, grab an estimated \u20ac88m worth of Napoleonic jewellery<\/a> and in less than 10 minutes escape with the loot on motorbikes.<\/p>\n

The advertisement by B\u00f6cker, which reads \u201cwhen you need to move fast\u201d and features a picture of the furniture lift used in the robbery. Photograph: Instagram<\/p>\n

The device, whose inclined ladder is seen in press photos reaching to a first-floor balcony, can carry \u201cup to 400kg of treasures at 42m per minute \u2013 as quiet as a whisper\u201d, the company says.<\/p>\n

Its marketing chief, Julia Scharwatz, said she and her husband, the family firm\u2019s third-generation chief executive, Alexander B\u00f6cker, were reading the news online together on Sunday when they were \u201cshocked\u201d to see the picture from the dramatic robbery<\/a> at the French museum showing one of their products.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt became clear to us, oh my goodness, this is a reprehensible act and they\u2019ve misused our device to do it,\u201d she said. \u201cBut after it was apparent that no one had been hurt, we started making a few jokes and putting our heads together on slogans we found funny.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said after the evening news \u201ccountless people \u2013 our staff, business partners, clients \u2013 got in touch with us and we thought, wow, we have to do something with this\u201d.<\/p>\n

By Monday morning, the campaign was born.<\/p>\n

Scharwatz said the company had in 2020 sold the mobile freight elevator to a company in the Paris region, which rents it out to customers. The thieves had approached the French company recently to express an interest in using the lift and then stole it during a demonstration of its use, which the owners reported to the police last week, she said.<\/p>\n

B\u00f6cker, which was founded in 1958 and whose slogan is \u201cMy way to the top\u201d, says on its website its business is built on \u201ctradition and innovation\u201d. It has about 600 employees.<\/p>\n

Scharwatz said the response to the new advert had been \u201coverwhelming\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI thought it would go a little viral but that it would go this viral was extraordinary. Our Instagram posts usually reach 15-20,000 people and now we\u2019re at 1.7 million. It\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said \u201c99%\u201d of the reactions had been positive. \u201cI can understand that it\u2019s not everyone\u2019s humour but most people are getting a kick out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Facebook user said B\u00f6cker\u2019s \u201cmarketing division deserves a pay rise\u201d. But another called the PR campaign \u201ctasteless\u201d, adding: \u201cThe French are stunned and saddened, while a German company makes fun of it and uses it in its advertising. Black humour \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear whether the social media posts were translating into new business, although Scharwatz said the firm had received \u201ca few inquiries about a furniture lift\u201d this week.<\/p>\n