Modern Vespa

In White Lotus there's an episode in which everything revolves around driving a Vespa. The Vespa is real, they name the brsnd several times but….. when you look at all official thumbnails on hbo and online, they use a fake Vespa. Is that a fail or a licensing thing?

As a designer, I directly notice these things. Also with the used colors and composition I think the poster looks more Indian than Italian, especially with that fake Vespa in it.

vespa is incredibly protective of their brand, so it's likely they didn't get clearance or obtain/pay rights to have a bike on the poster.

but the secondary consideration is that the production company did the photo shoot and either couldn't obtain a vintage bike on their schedule or didn't want to pay the rental for one and thus went with a generic looking modern bike that was cheaper and easily obtained.

or whoever did the design work just pulled whatever images were supplied and knocked a render together, people up-chain okayed it and that's how it turned out.

And most people would never notice anyway.

I've noticed that whenever anything or any place that I actually know something about is depicted in a movie or on TV or in the news, it's always either completely wrong or not quite right in some fundamental way. If this also happens to everyone else, which I assume it does, then everything we ever see in all media is either completely wrong or not quite right.

A designer should care about these little details

I agree 100%! But obviously someone dropped the ball. I was just lamenting that most people won't notice this design failure.

You're right 😅

Tonya never actually pilots the Vespa in the show either. If we're digging into details.

Haha that's right too… and talking indepth about series….did Greg get away with it?

Poor Rally…

A few years ago I was contacted by a marketer for a local clothing brand that had a range of Italian inspired pyjama designs. They used my scooter for the advertising campaign. They too could have used a cheap knock off but made the effort to get a real Vespa.

I love that picture. And great effort! Very nice Vespa too! Are those official badges and logo's for that model? They look a bit more classic, but it's a nice upgrade.

Yep original badges. 2003 model.

But are the pyjamas made in Italy?

Who cares...?
Is the model Italian ?

If you read reviews of this show on IMDB, you aren't going to find a lot that trend negative because the scooter on the poster is not a Vespa.

Let's assemble an angry mob to fix that.

Firstly, what is the best grit sandpaper for sharpening pitchforks?

Start with 100, then move up to 200, then 400. You can go to higher grits, but for a pitchfork, it's probably unnecessary.

Be sure to seal with linseed oil to prevent rusting.

how a professional assemblage sharpens their pitchforks.
act accordingly beloved.

Are you mad? Surely rusty ups the game a bit if you only manage a glancing blow.

HBO might not have had the rights to use the actual Vespa image for the thumbnails, even if they had it in the show. Reminds me of when I saw a movie with a character using an iPhone, but on the DVD cover, it was a generic smartphone. Probably licensing stuff or to avoid potential trademark issues.