He's small, he's yellow, his name is Flat Eric - and it looks like he's about to go to No 1. The star of the current Levi's ad campaign has so captured the public imagination that bookmakers William Hill have given him odds of 2-1 to top the UK singles charts next week. Never mind that a furry gonk may be going straight in at No 1 - he'll also be getting there with a tune which has no words, no discernible melody, and no chorus. Mr Blobby must be wobbling with rage.
No one knows why Flat Eric has become such a cause celebre. After all, furry yellow Muppets are 10 a penny, and Eric is just one of many cuddly characters which populate the Jim Henson Creature Workshop in London. Perhaps it is the presentation: unlike most Muppets, who talk in funny voices, dance around madly and do silly things, Flat Eric remains silent, restricts his movements to vigorous head-nodding and finger-tapping, and does sensible things such as swatting a fly from his companion's Levis.
The Muppets may have taken Manhattan and Barney might have had a big adventure, but Eric features in the coolest ad on TV right now - and that makes him cooler than Kermit. In case the Levi's Sta-Prest commercial zoomed over your head, here's the synopsis: furry yellow gonk, Flat Eric, and his human pal, Angel, are driving along, listening to techno music, when a cop stops their car. He asks both for identification, batting not a single eyelid at the presence of a puppet in the passenger seat. Flat Eric proffers two photo IDs, one with Angel's face, the other with his own fuzzy features. The cop studies the photos, checks it really is them and not some other Muppet and his Latino friend, and hands back their IDs. He then asks Angel to open the trunk, and finds to his satisfaction that it contains a variety of Levi's Sta-Prest garments, all neatly folded. As Eric and Angel prepare to drive away, the two exchange a what-was-that-all-about look before replaying their techno soundtrack.
There's a follow-up segment, in which our heroes have parked the car in a leafy yard, and Angel is slouched in the driver's seat, dozing in the afternoon heat. Eric, meanwhile, is sitting in the passenger seat, sipping a cup of Wizz soft drink (unlike Levi's Sta-Prest, Wizz isn't a real product), when he notices that a fly has landed on Angel's Sta-Prest trouser leg. Holding a magazine in his furry hand, and swinging his stick-like limbs, Eric swats the fly, causing no disturbance to the perfect crease on the trousers, nor to their owner's perfect peace.
The great thing about this particular gonk is his almost Zen-like aloofness. Unlike, say, Zig and Zag, who scream for your attention, Flat Eric seems unaware that he is being watched by an enchanted audience out there in TV ad-land. It's no surprise to learn the two furry brothers from Zog have recently parodied the ad, enacting their own mock scenario on the Network Two show, 2 Phat, with the help of Ray D'Arcy in the Angel role.
Public response to the ad has been phenomenal, with people asking where they can buy their own Flat Eric and when the tune will be available on CD. There's no news yet about when you can trade in your Teletubbies, but the single, entitled Flat Beats and performed by Mr Oizo, is out on Monday.
Mr Oizo is not another furry gonk, but the pseudonym of Frenchman Quentin Dupieux, who also directed the ad. He has directed four Levi's ads featuring Flat Eric and he plans to make more in the near future. First, however, he has to make a film to accompany his debut album, Analogue Worms Attack, which features more squelchy techno sounds from Dupieux's minimalist palette of "dirty house" music. Having set a new fashion in stylish lounge cuts, then invaded the House scene with disco-driven beats, it looks like the French are about to bring techno back out of the underground and into our living rooms.
If Flat Beats hits No 1, Dupieux will have the dubious distinction of joining Babylon Zoo and Stiltskin in the roll-call of artists who have topped the charts on the back of a Levi ad. Flat Eric, meanwhile, will stand proudly alongside Roland Rat and Orville, two furry former chart-toppers from another age. This time, however, it won't be kiddies who'll be singing along - it'll be cool clubbers who'll be wombling down to their local club and getting into the Sta-Prest groove.
Flat Beats by Mr Oizo is out on F Communications on Monday