It was, as Forbes notes, one of the most unusual cargo thefts in recent European memory. The reference is to the disappearance of 12 metric tons of KitKat bars en route from Italy to Poland by truck. And not just any KitKat bars, but ones specially shaped like Formula 1 cars as part of a promotion. As of Tuesday, the chocolate and the truck remain missing, but the Wall Street Journal sees something of a silver lining for Nestle: "promotional gold." The company has responded with well-received humor: "We've always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat—but it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 metric tons of our chocolate," it declared.
Soon, other companies chimed in:
- "We would like to share our thoughts and condolences with Kit Kat following their sad news," said Domino's Pizza in the UK. "On a completely unrelated note, we're pleased to announce we'll now be selling a new Kit Kat pizza."
- Charlotte FC, a Major League Soccer team in North Carolina, made a similar joke: "On an unrelated note, we are happy to share we will be offering roughly 413,000 KitKats at this Saturday's match against Philadelphia at Bank of America stadium."
London PR exec Andrew Bloch calls it a "master class in public relations" on the part of Nestle in turning a negative into a positive. Still, the theft "disrupts a carefully timed campaign designed to align with key (F1) races, including the Italian Grand Prix at Monza," notes Forbes. As for the theft itself, the latter outlet notes that the truck's route wasn't public knowledge, suggesting an inside job within the logistics chain.
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