Hands Off the Hasselhoff!

Giant photo cutouts of actor David Hasselhoff, which were being used as part of an ad campaign, have been stolen from outside Cumberland Farms stores.

July 20, 2012

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. - Apparently, New Englanders can??t get enough of the Hoff. Around 550 photo cutouts of actor David Hasselhoff of "Knight Rider" and "Baywatch" fame have been pilfered from outside Cumberland Farms stores, the Associated Press reports The giant photo depicted Hasselhoff clad in a tank top and holding a cup of coffee with the words "Thirsty?" as part of the chain??s iced coffee promotion.

Hasselhoff appeared in TV commercials in May for Cumberland Farms iced coffee. The chain rolled out the cutout portion of its ad campaign a few weeks ago at 570 stores in Florida and New England. Only 20 or so Hasselhoff cutouts remain standing, said Kate Ngo, brand strategy maven for Cumberland Farms.

"We want everyone to enjoy the Hoff," she said. "We're flattered by the attention??[But] we certainly don't encourage theft at our stores." While retail stores expect some theft, "this particular campaign is probably a higher rate of theft than anything we've ever seen," said Ngo.

Cumberland Farms plans to continue replacing the signs as they disappear until the campaign??s end date in August, but Ngo??s mum on how much the replacements are costing the chain. Meanwhile, Cumberland Farms is taking to Facebook to beg the thieves to stop stealing the Hasselhoff cutout.

The chain had one more request: If someone has a cutout, "we want to know at least the Hasselhoff is safe and he's being taken care of," said Ngo.

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