Makers of lift used by Louvre thieves say their devices 'aren't for burglaries' after tongue-in-cheek advert
German company Bocker captioned their post 'when you need to move fast' alongside an image of the crime scene
The manufacturers of the lift used by the Louvre thieves have said their devices are 'not made for burglaries' after releasing a tongue-in-cheek advert with the tagline 'when you need to move fast.'
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The German company Bocker, which makes the Angilo furniture used in Sunday's heist, posted an image to Instagram which showed the lift inside the police cordon next to the museum.
The company cheekily captioned it: "When you need to move fast," telling prospective buyers the lift can carry "up to 400kg of treasures at 42m per minute - as quiet as a whisper."
The eight stolen items, worth an estimated €88m (£76m), were taken from cabinets in the Paris museum by a gang of power-tool-wielding thieves.
Read more: Jewellery stolen in Louvre heist was not insured because premiums were too expensive
French police are trying to trace the gang, but experts fear the stolen crown jewels, once worn by Napoleon's wife, may already be lost forever.
It has since been revealed that France will not receive any payout from the heist, as the precious jewels were nearly impossible for insurers to appraise.
Feedback from the Bocker social media post, also uploaded to Facebook and LinkedIn, was 99% positive, according to CEO Alexander Bocker.
Mr Bocker said he and his wife, marketing manager Julia Scharwatz, realised their product had been used in the heist when they saw photos from the scene on Sunday afternoon.
"We were shocked that our lift had been completely misused for this robbery, as it is not approved for transporting people, and certainly not intended for burglaries," he told Sky News.
"Once the initial shock had subsided and it was clear that no one had been injured, black humour took over.
"We brainstormed a bit and played slogan ping pong. My wife finalised it with her marketing team on Monday morning."
Users have generally seen the funny side, with one Instagram comment saying the post "might be the best ad I've seen this year" and another said: "the Oscar for the cleverest advertising".
Mr Bocker said "99% of the feedback " has been "thoroughly positive.
"We understand that not everyone shares this sense of humour.
"Humour rarely, if ever, appeals to everyone, but the vast majority laughed heartily."
As of Friday afternoon, more than 40,000 people had liked the post on Instagram.
The CEO said his company has had enquiries from around the world and "many congratulations" on their "successful marketing campaign."
The lift used by the thieves belonged to one of the firm's customers, who rents out furniture lifts in the Greater Paris area.
The museum reopened to the public on Wednesday, three days after the jewels were stolen.
Video footage also emerged of the brazen raid on the gallery, with the gang slowly descending from their entry point on a cherry picker in broad daylight.
On the same day, the country's President Emmanuel Macron called for an "acceleration" of increased security measures at the museum.
Museum director Laurence des Cars offered to resign when she appeared before French senators on Wednesday, admitting that the four-minute raid was a "terrible failure."