Flat Eric is a

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

character, created by

Quentin Dupieux Quentin Dupieux (, born 14 April 1974), also known by his musical stage name Mr. Oizo (), is a French filmmaker, electronic musician, and DJ. Dupieux is credited with his legal name for his films, while the name "Mr. Oizo" is used for his musica ...

(better known under his stage name Mr. Oizo), from

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for

Sta-Prest Sta-Prest (a stylized rendering of "stay pressed") is a brand of wrinkle-resistant trousers produced by Levi Strauss & Co., beginning in 1964. Sta-Prest jeans are marketed as being wearable straight out of the dryer, with no need for ironing. ...

One Crease Denim Clothing, built by

Jim Henson's Creature Shop Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based out of Burbank, California, United States. History Jim Henson's Creature Shop was originally ...

. His name comes from an idea for a commercial that involved having a car run over his head and flattening it. The idea was not used, but the name stuck. In the commercials, Flat Eric would ride with his friend Angel (played by Philippe Petit) around California, evading the police as a wanted criminal. As of 2018, Mr. Oizo still uses Flat Eric as a mascot.

Background

Flat Eric was based on a dog-like puppet called Stéphane that was similar, but with ears and the hands were fixed. Stéphane appeared in some short films by Mr. Oizo (including a video for the track M-Seq), and had a small cult following in the United Kingdom and France. In March 1999, Levi's decided to build a television commercial campaign around the puppet, to be directed by Oizo. The character was renamed Eric, a more "international name", in contrast to the original French name Stéphane. The name Eric was chosen after Eric Morand, one of the founders of the

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

F Communications F Communications, also known as FCom, was a French record label based in Paris. It was founded in 1994 by Eric Morand and Laurent Garnier. It produces dance and electronic music by artists like Avril, Garnier, and Mr. Oizo amongst many others. ...

. He was made by Janet Knechtel for

, in the United Kingdom, and was performed by

Drew Massey Drew Massey (born April 4, 1972) is an American voice actor, puppeteer and director for Nickelodeon and the Jim Henson Company. He has worked extensively with the Muppets and has performed in many films, television series, and commercials. He h ...

for all the Levi's commercials. The Levi's adverts took three days to shoot. The original short films made with Stéphane cost around 15,000 francs to produce. The two Levi's adverts cost around two or three million francs each. The rights to the character were retained by Oizo and production company Partizan.

Characteristics

Eric typically does not speak, communicating only through body language. He has only spoken in the music video for "

Flat Beat "Flat Beat" is an instrumental by French musician Mr. Oizo. It was released on 22 March 1999 through F Communications and was included as a bonus track on his debut studio album, ''Analog Worms Attack''. An accompanying music video was released o ...

", doing so through electronic squawks reminiscent of Miss Othmar in the Peanuts animated specials.

Appearances

He was featured in the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s for "

" and "Viandes Légumes Véhicules" by French musician

Mr. Oizo Quentin Dupieux (, born 14 April 1974), also known by his musical stage name Mr. Oizo (), is a French filmmaker, electronic musician, and DJ. Dupieux is credited with his legal name for his films, while the name "Mr. Oizo" is used for his musica ...

and he also appeared as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

in Series 1 of the 2001 to 2003

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Comedy, ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

''. In August 2004, he co starred with David Soul, in a five million pound television advert for '' Auto Trader''. He has also appeared on ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu. The pro ...

''. The puppet also featured heavily as a prop for more than ten years on SIC Radical interactive chat show ''

Curto Circuito ''Curto Circuito'', is a Portuguese talk show created in 1999 by Rui Unas and Pedro Miguel Paiva that airs on SIC Radical and SIC K SIC K is a Portuguese television channel aimed at children aged 7–14. This channel is owned by Sociedade Ind ...

'', being usually named as "''Boneco Amarelo''" (Portuguese for "Yellow Puppet"). Flat Eric has also been featured in many magazines, including ''

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

'', ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'', ''Ministry'', '' Mixmag'', ''

Muzik ''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003. ''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...

'', ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' and ''

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...

''. Flat Eric was introduced as an unlockable character in the mobile game ''

Crossy Road ''Crossy Road'' is an arcade video game released on 20 November 2014. It was developed and published by Australian video game developer Hipster Whale, with the name and concept of the game playing on the age-old joke "Why did the chicken cross t ...

'' in a 2016 update, being free for a limited time.

References

External links

Flat Eric Fansite, GermanyFlat Eric's Adventues
{{Authority control Puppets Clothing advertising characters Male characters in advertising Communication design Mascots introduced in 1998 Fictional outlaws Fictional characters invented for recorded music