Green like grass, blue like the sky and yellow like the sun: as Toronto-based scooterco Vespa Canada and agency Dentsu see it, the colours of the new LX models represent the hues of the environment. Thus was born the ‘EnviroVespas’ positioning, an exclusively Canadian concept. ‘While Vespas are already kinder to the environment, we wanted to up our commitment level,’ says Sue Kurvilla, Vespa PR director.

In collaboration with the Carbon Reduction Fund, Vespa will purchase carbon offsets for two years on behalf of EnviroVespa buyers. As well, after Environmental Defense Canada informed them about an impending beehive collapse, Dentsu came up with a plan to have street teams disguised as bees and riding yellow Vespas wrapped to look like bee abdomens swarming Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary this summer, conducting ‘guerrilla plantings’ to help create pollinator habitats.

‘Vespa is Italian for wasp, so the wasp is going to help save the bee,’ says Glen Hunt, Dentsu’s creative catalyst. Bee lovers can submit work based on the concept at envirovespa.com, and the best will win an EnviroVespa. Print ads will run across the country throughout the summer.