Louvre heist lift-maker capitalizes on product’s success with cheeky Instagram ad

By Lianne Kolirin and Sophie Tanno, CNN

(CNN) — As French police, government officials and top executives at the Louvre Museum continue to scratch their heads over how thieves managed to brazenly steal priceless jewelry in broad daylight, a German company is seizing the moment and grabbing its 15 minutes of fame.

Böcker, the firm that manufactured the furniture lift apparently used in the audacious robbery, has taken to social media to show there is no such thing as bad publicity.

In a tongue-in-cheek Instagram post, the company, based in Werne, northwestern Germany, posted an image of the scene following the incident and captioned it: “”The next time you need things to move quickly. The Böcker Agilo transports your treasures weighing up to 400kg at 42 meters per minute – whisper-quiet thanks to 230 V E-motor.”

The unidentified thieves, who remain at large, made off with historic jewels worth more than $100 million after breaking into the world-famous Paris museum in broad daylight on Sunday morning, when the museum was already open to visitors. Video footage appears to show that they entered through a second-floor balcony after gaining access with a truck fitted with the lift.

Alexander Böcker, the German company’s managing director and third-generation owner, told CNN in a statement that he and his wife were “shocked” when they first saw the news on Sunday and realized “that our lift had been misused for this robbery.”

Then, once it became clear that nobody had been injured, the business owner’s entrepreneurial spirit kicked in.

“Once the initial shock had subsided, black humour took over,” he said in the statement. “We joked around a bit, had some fun and came up with some initial slogans.”

The feedback to the company’s post, published on Monday, has been “overwhelming” and mostly positive, according to Böcker.

In an interview with Reuters, he said: “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.”

The Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, told a French Senate committee hearing on Wednesday that the museum’s aging camera system did not cover the eastern balcony of the Apollo Gallery, where the robbers used an angle grinder to break in.

Des Cars told the hearing that the “absolutely obsolete, even absent, technical infrastructure” to monitor the country’s most valuable treasures was a “terrible observation” for the world’s largest museum. She said she had offered her resignation to Culture Minister Rachida Dati after the robbery, but it was rejected.

According to Böcker, the Agilo is mainly used in construction and to transport heavy goods during removals and is not meant to transport people.

The specific model used in the heist was sold to a customer in the Greater Paris area who rents it out, according to Böcker’s statement. But it was apparently stolen from the owner during a demonstration for a prospective customer.

“It appears that the company lettering has been removed and the number plates replaced,” he added.

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Pierre P Bairin, Catherine Nicholls and Hilary Whiteman contributed to this report.