Pabst Blue Ribbon pulls a KitKat: Why brands are turning cargo theft into marketing stunts

Earlier this month, Pabst Blue Ribbon took to Instagram to announce that, in a very real heist, someone stole 40,000 pounds of beer from the company. In the post, the brand gave the thief “18 days and 44 minutes to return our truckload of beer, no questions asked” and called on its audience to “help us solve this myst

Pabst Blue Ribbon started a countdown after 40,000 pounds of beer vanished earlier this month in a suspected cargo‑fraud heist.

A truck carrying 40,000 pounds of beer disappeared from an Anheuser-Busch distribution center in California

The company responded to the theft by setting a deadline for the return of the product. “P.S., this is real and we are deadly serious,” it said on social media.