Flat Eric, the iconic puppet made famous via a Levi’s jeans commercial, is making a comeback. The puppet that stormed TV screens--and the charts via a hit single by Mr Oizo--is due to be resurrected in a short film.
Flat Eric's reappearance mirrors the trend in advertising, TV and film to recreate or remake icons and ideas of the past--such as Fame, Transformers, and the return of the PG Tips Monkey who previously fronted advertising for failed UK TV service ITV Digital.
Wieden & Kennedy’s Tony Davidson and Kim Papworth are understood to be working on a Flat Eric project--said to be a short film unconnected to Levi’s--together with its creator Quentin Dupieux, who also operates under his musical pseudonym Mr Oizo.
Production company Partizan, which co-owns the rights to Flat Eric with Dupieux, is also involved. Flat Eric was based on a puppet called Stephane that was similar but with ears and who appeared in a series of short films by Mr Oizo.
Davidson and Papworth picked up the character while working on the Levi’s account at Bartle Bogle Hegarty in 1999. In 2004, the puppet co-starred with David Soul in a TV advert for Auto Trader magazine.
90s Puppet Icons
Levi's Flat Eric to be Resurrected in Short Film
Trend Themes
1. Resurrecting 90s Nostalgia Icons - Brands can leverage the consumer desire for nostalgia to bring back beloved products or characters from the past for marketing campaigns.
2. Collaborating with Original Creators - Partnering with the original creators that have the rights to iconic characters gives brands an opportunity to revive beloved moments in advertising and cinema.
3. Short Film Revivals - Producing short films that revive characters from the past are a popular marketing technique to attract a broad range of audiences and spark consumer interest.
Industry Implications
1. Advertising - Advertising agencies can tap into nostalgia trends by reviving past characters and products to create effective and memorable campaigns for their clients.
2. Film Production - Film production companies may leverage nostalgia-initiated ideas from the advertising industry to create new projects.
3. Entertainment Industry - The entertainment industry can reinvigorate conventional shows and movies by resurrecting popular characters or re-imagining them, thereby appealing to a wider range of audiences and encouraging excitement.