First, got here the Louvre heist. Then got here the memes

PARIS — It was the heist heard all over the world. So naturally, it was solely a matter of hours earlier than it transitioned into memes seen across the web.

4 masked thieves. 9 “priceless” items. All stolen in lower than seven minutes, from the world’s most well-known museum. The Oct. 19 daylight theft on the Louvre has already been in comparison with a Dan Brown novel or the most recent installment in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s movie franchise.

Now it is one thing else fully — web tradition’s latest obsession. From manufacturers to influencers to actors with initiatives to advertise (this is you, George Clooney), the Louvre heist has grow to be the most recent template for going viral.

Authorities, in the meantime, are nonetheless searching for solutions. French police say the investigation continues, with about 100 individuals engaged on the case. Investigators say they’ve collected greater than 150 hint samples — together with DNA and fingerprints left on gear deserted on the scene — which at the moment are being analyzed by forensic specialists in Paris.

One twist got here earlier this week when Empress Eugénie’s diamond-and-gold encrusted crown — one of many stolen gadgets — was discovered broken close to the scene, apparently dropped or deserted through the thieves’ escape.

Eight different jewels — all relics of France’s imperial historical past — stay lacking. The estimated worth of the gadgets is $102 million (88 million euros), although France’s inside ministry described the jewels as “priceless.” France’s tradition minister referred to as the theft a “humiliation.” The museum’s director admitted that the heist “was not inevitable,” acknowledging the failure of its safety.

The Louvre’s safety programs are anticipated to face extra scrutiny within the coming weeks, significantly as questions develop in regards to the lack of safety cameras within the museum’s Apollo Gallery, the place the theft happened.

Turning crime into content material

The thieves entered the second-floor gallery by way of a window utilizing an electrical raise — which in addition they used to scurry again right down to floor degree earlier than leaping on scooters towards the closest freeway.

Law enforcement officials work by a basket raise utilized by thieves Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 on the Louvre museum in Paris.

Thibault Camus/AP

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Thibault Camus/AP

On Friday, Böcker, the German equipment firm that made the raise entered the dialog, releasing a cheeky publish that includes an advert throughout its social media pages. The advert incorporates a picture of its ladder propped in opposition to the Louvre’s façade with the caption, “If you’re in a hurry, Böcker Agilo carries up to 400 kg of treasures at 42 m per minute — as quiet as a whisper.”

It was half advert, half wink. Out of the blue, the family-run firm’s longtime slogan “my way to the top” has gained new that means.

They weren’t alone. IKEA Switzerland posted its personal tongue-in-cheek advert selling a glass-dome show case. The caption learn: “Won’t protect your crown jewels either. But it will give them the right spotlight.”

Others on TikTok and Instagram have turned the Louvre heist right into a Halloween costume: assume black jumpsuits, leather-based gloves, modern sun shades, and glittering imitation jewels.

“Heists are so back!” the trend influencer @clothesfordinner declared

“How nice to read about a heist rather than a massacre”

A part of the fascination comes from the fantasy the story invitations.

“How thrilling, upon hearing the news, to put oneself in the shoes of the thieves, and imagine making off with the diamonds scot-free,” The Atlantic workers author Caity Weaver wrote in a latest piece chronicling the general public’s obsession with the heist.

Or to place the obsession much more merely: “How nice to read about a heist rather than a massacre.”

The stolen trinkets, Weaver writes, “have garnered far more attention now than they would have had they remained on view at the Louvre for 5,000 years.”

George Clooney arrives on the AFI Fest premiere of the movie “Jay Kelly” on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at TCL Chinese language Theatre in Los Angeles.

Chris Pizzello/Invision by way of AP

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Chris Pizzello/Invision by way of AP

Maybe she’s onto one thing. And maybe that is why Hollywood, for its half, could not resist the second, both.

George Clooney — who performs grasp thief Danny Ocean within the Ocean’s franchise — joked at a movie premiere final week, “They seem to have done a pretty good job of getting away with it … I was very proud of those guys.”

Requested whether or not the heist would possibly encourage the upcoming Ocean’s 14 movie, Clooney quipped, “I think we should rob the Louvre.”

After which there’s the dapper man the web has determined is on the case.

After the theft, an Related Press photographer captured a younger trying well-dressed passerby close to the Louvre’s gates — coat, tie, and fedora — as police sealed off the museum.

On-line, he was immediately dubbed “a more dashing version of the famed Inspector Clouseau” from the Pink Panther franchise, supposedly a suave detective investigating the theft.

Law enforcement officials block an entry to the Louvre museum after a theft Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, in Paris.

Thibault Camus/AP

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Thibault Camus/AP

The AP photographer, Thibault Camus, later mentioned the person was merely strolling previous. “He appeared in front of me, I saw him, I took the photo,” Camus says. “He passed by and left.”

Nonetheless, the picture took off, racking up thousands and thousands of views and a flood of memes.

Even the Paris prosecutor’s workplace appeared to play alongside. In an e mail to AP asking if the thriller man was part of the official investigation, officers replied with a wink: “We’d rather keep the mystery alive ;).”