[](/images/saccheggi_londra.png) The London lootings are those you’ve surely heard about these days. The Unhappiest Advertising Executives of 2011 are, almost surely, those of the italian advertising agency Armando Testa. Just a few months ago, they launched the new version of the Lancia Ypsilon compact car with a series of TV spots in which actor Vincent Cassel defiantly declares and explains that “Il Lusso e un Diritto”. The literal translation of that slogan in English is “Luxury is a Right”, that is exactly the same concept (*) firmly planted in the mind of those London looters who focused on big screen TVs, smartphones, trendy clothes and other absolutely primary, indispensable goods.

Sales of Lancia Ypsilon had started well when it arrived in italian dealerships last April. It will be interesting now to see if they’ll continue at the same rate or how long that spot (and all the others that shout the very same slogan with the same attitude, even if they don’t spell it out explicitly).

(*) of course, who is guilty and why if such a concept fills the minds of those people is a whole different discussion.