German biscuit-makers hunt ‘Cookie Monster’ thief

Published on 01/02/2013 14:59

ONE OF Germany’s best-known biscuit manufacturers have appealed for a thief dressed as the Sesame Street character the ‘Cookie Monster’ to return its historic golden biscuit emblem.

The Bahlsen biscuit company’s iconic logo has hung above the firm’s Hanover headquarters for the past century, but was reported as stolen last week.

In the days following its disappearance, a ransom note was delivered to the local newspaper, the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, along with a photo of the thief dressed as the biscuit-coveting puppet from the popular children’s television show Sesame Street, pretending to take a bite from the golden biscuit.

The note begins: “I have the cookie! And you want it!” and is followed up by the thief’s request that boxes of cookies be sent to a local children’s hospital, in exchange for the safe return of the emblem.

The letter, made up mostly of letters cut out from newspapers, continues: “The ones with milk chocolate, not the ones with dark chocolate or without chocolate.”

A final request demanded that 1,000 euros be donated to a nearby animal home.

Bahlsen took to Facebook on Thursday, posting a public message to the thief promising to deliver 52,000 cartons of biscuits to several charities if the golden biscuit was returned.

A spokesperson for the biscuit company refuted claims that the theft and ransom note were part of an engineered marketing ploy, insisting that the firm were ‘anxious’ to have the emblem returned to them as quickly as possible.