Diamonds are forever, but they're not heist-proof.
This sponsorship stunt? Pure Danny Ocean vibes.
The 2004 Monaco 'Diamond Heist' turns 20-years-old this weekend 👇🏻
@Jaguar @HSBC In 2004, the Jaguar F1 team was struggling financially.
The pressure was on for the team, entering their fifth season with Ford, the owner, and HSBC, the main sponsor, both expecting more from the team's lackluster results.
Having heard the film "Ocean's Twelve" was in production, Jaguar's team communications director, Nav Sidhu, had a brilliant idea.
Sidhu felt that F1 wasn't doing enough with the promotional opportunities the spectacle of the Monaco Grand Prix presented.
So the team would use Monaco's glitz, glamour, and wealth as the ideal backdrop while using the movie's stars to draw attention to the Jaguar brand.
Leveraging a previous relationship with the Steinmetz Group, a global diamond dealer, Jaguar was supplied with five uninsured diamonds to be fitted to the nosecones of actual race cars during the Grand Prix.
Monaco is one of the easiest places to get caught in a collision or clip another car — the level of risk for this stunt was high.
But the partnership, to that point, was a PR dream.
Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney show up, make appearances with the team, and everything is going great.
And then the race starts.
Jaguar driver Christian Klien puts the nose of his car into the wall of the famous hairpin turn on the first lap.
Klien was fine, but where was the diamond?
Safety regulations prevented the Jaguar team from getting to the car right away.
They were left with a two-hour delay before they could investigate the disappearance of the diamond.
By the time they did, the diamond was gone.
Regarding the aftermath, Sidhu told The Drive that, "We weren't actively out there looking for the diamond, nor were we actively encouraging people to find it in return for a reward."
He would later add that the "risk factors played out, the diamond got lost... and the entire planet was consumed with our story, the brand, and Ocean's Twelve. Job done!"
This was either the dumbest or the smartest marketing partnership in racing history, and we're still talking about this story two decades later.
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