Back in the 50's a small car company with a funny name was trying to figure out how to market itself in the US market, which was dominated by huge car companies making huge cars. They turned to Madison Avenue, and got what is rightfully considered the best and most iconic ad campaigns ever. They had crisp photos with white backgrounds and snappy and funny copy. The ads fit the cars perfectly.
Well, for those ad companies which were not nearly as creative, imitation was the sincerest form of flattery. If you had a European scooter company come to your door asking to create a marketing campaign, why not just pitch an ad which "feels just like the Volkswagen ads!" And that is just what Piaggio got. Above is a good example the genre. This is probably the best Vespa ad from the period, funny, but making the point that the best quality of the Vespa is that it isn't trying to be a Harley.