A massive clever chocolate heist: How to turn it into a "golden case" in crisis public relations

Nestlé’s response to the stolen chocolates proves: as long as you can turn it into a meme, there’s no such thing as bad news

This batch of KitKat chocolates was stolen while being transported from a factory in central Italy to Poland.

How much are 12 tons of stolen KitKats worth? The answer is: priceless promotional material.

This sensational chocolate heist has spread across major social media platforms: last weekend, Nestlé confirmed that a total of 413,793 KitKats were stolen while being shipped from a factory in central Italy to Poland. The chocolates and the delivery truck are still missing, but no one was injured in the case.

But the Swiss company’s loss on the chocolates was fully offset by a clever PR victory — other quick-reacting brands also jumped on the meme bandwagon, riding the hype.

In a statement, Nestlé said: “We’ve always encouraged everyone to ‘grab a KitKat and take a break’ — but it seems these thieves took that literally and ‘rolled away’ with over 12 tons of our chocolates.” A spokesperson confirmed that this heist was not an early April Fool’s joke.

“This is real,” he said.

Many brands quickly followed Nestlé’s lead, joining the meme frenzy on social media.

UK Domino’s Pizza posted Monday morning: “Our deepest sympathies and condolences for the unfortunate incident involving KitKats.” They added: “On a completely unrelated note, we’re excited to announce the upcoming launch of a new KitKat chocolate pizza.”

North Carolina’s Major League Soccer team Charlotte FC also played along hours later: “On a completely unrelated note, we’re pleased to announce that this Saturday’s match against Philadelphia Union at Bank of America Stadium will feature approximately 413k pieces of KitKats.”

Budget airline Ryanair simply posted a cartoon airplane image, with the plane “biting” five KitKats in its “mouth.”

In the past, most companies would stay silent and leave it to the police when facing such potentially damaging incidents. But nowadays, as long as brands can turn bad news into viral memes, misfortune can become a positive.

Andrew Brock, head of the London-based public relations consultancy Andrew Brock Associates, said: “This is a masterclass in PR.” Faced with the embarrassment of a large chocolate theft, Nestlé “seized the opportunity to turn a bad situation into a good one.”

Brock recalled a 2018 case: when KFC UK faced a chicken shortage due to supplier issues, causing hundreds of stores to temporarily close. KFC ran a full-page apology ad in UK newspapers — featuring an empty fried chicken bucket with the brand’s initials changed to “FCK.”

“A fried chicken shop with no chicken could have been a disaster, but they faced it head-on and played along,” he said. “It’s now a classic crisis PR case.”

Now, other brands are also trying to leverage competitors’ mistakes for hype. This month, after McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski’s video biting into a burger went viral, Burger King and Wendy’s executives quickly posted similar videos, playfully mocking their rival. McDonald’s also said its new Big Mac was flying off the shelves thanks to the buzz.

Reputation and crisis management firm Tamin’s founder, Davia Tamin, said: “For serious incidents like oil spills or plane crashes, it’s not advisable to hype up the bad news. But participating in a multinational chocolate heist meme carries almost no risk.”

“After all, it’s chocolate, and it’s Easter,” Tamin added. “There’s little chance of a backlash no matter how you play it.”

Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce, said brands need to jump on trending memes early to do it well.

“If you wait until the fifth or sixth wave, it’s game over,” Adamson said. “Impromptu meme playing requires a clear sense of boundaries.”

He emphasized that brands should stay consistent with their tone when deciding whether to join in. The success of Domino’s and Ryanair’s posts is because their content aligns with their long-established fun brand images.

“You need to know your positioning and when to jump in,” Adamson said.

Nestlé explained that their humorous approach to publicizing the incident was meant to draw attention to the more serious issue of freight theft. The company added that the risk was low because the theft did not affect supply, and the chocolates could be tracked via dedicated product codes.

“While we appreciate the thief’s excellent taste, the fact is that freight theft is an increasingly serious problem for companies of all sizes,” Nestlé stated.