Vespa Heads: It’s Hip to be [S]quare!
The newest Vespa model called the Vespa S is a retro-inspired scooter with square-ish headlamp and side mirrors is based on the classic look of the famous 50 Special model of 1969. These vintage models are still highly sought after and the scoot’s cult status was confirmed a few years ago when teen band Lunapop sang its praises in their smash hit “50 Special.”
In a press release, Piaggio formally announced the debut of the 2008 Vespa S, a retro-forward 150cc for the North American market. To create a buzz for the new model, the Toronto-based Vespa Canada launched the Vespa-head campaign — life-sized humanoid cutouts with the Vespa S handlebar for its head. These ‘dudes’ sports a retro-cool getups like Chuck Taylor and other ‘in-again’ brands to play on the notion that it’s hip to be square.
The company plans to display the odd humal-like images on buildings around Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. There are four different Vespa-heads in total; they’ll appear either as singles like this one:
or in a group of intimidating posse such as this:
Read more about the Vespa-head campaign…
(from mediaincanada.com)“[They're unbranded] to create curiosity and intrigue,” says Glen Hunt, creative catalyst at Toronto-based Dentsu Canada, who adds that the images were done by Toronto-based guerrilla artist Faux Reel. “The idea is to bring something attractive to the locations – it’s more like art, so people appreciate it.” Hunt describes Faux Reel as “the Banksy of Canada,” referring to the renowned British graffiti artist. Street teams will be handing out Vespa-head buttons, too, to further leverage the concept.
Vespa is also working with Toronto-based prodco Crush to do a 40-foot outdoor projection of an interactive Vespa-head that turns around to check out and double-blink at passersby. Print and poster executions will also play on the Vespa-head concept, with headlines like “Born to be Square.”
Holy S!
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J0HNRANA
john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com
These are up all around Vancouver. Not sure how long they will last as the city is constantly scrubbed clean in preparation for the 2010 Olympics. Nicely done campaign and very ‘street level’.
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http://www.scootsite.com
They’re popping up around Ottawa as well. See the link for a couple of finds. An absolutely sweet ad campaign. Go faux reel!