November 20, 2012 |
The yellow puppet, the star of the Levi’s Sta-Prest ads, who was famously on the run from the law with his friend Angel, represents all that is good and great about one-hit wonders. After all, who would you rather have in your bed – Eric or Chesney Hawkes? Which is why, rather than a bunch of fragrant blooms, we will bestow upon Eric 10 individual flowers in the shape of reasons why we love him so:
1. The original concept for the Levi’s ad was Flat Eric having his head run over. Hence the name Flat Eric.
2. He was based on a puppet called Stéphane created by Mr Oizo that was almost identical to Eric, except that Stéphane had ears and Eric didn’t. We’ve always had a soft spot for earless creatures. Earless creatures are sexy!
3. His name was Eric. Someone once told me, when naming their child, that they were looking for something short, international and with an r in it. And what does that equal? Eric. Eric is sexy!
4. He was yellow. We might have mentioned that earlier, but it needs reiterating, as yellow is notoriously difficult to pull off. Yellow makes people look ill. Even the sun. Yellow is the colour of jaundice. And yet, on Eric, it worked. He brought yellow to life. He brought yellow to masses. It was a yellow reawakening unlike none seen before. He made yellow sexy!
5. He was on the cover of Heat. HEAT! He was a Heat cover star. That is sexy!
6. He was able to hold onto a beat. Nobody has ever nodded their head to music in the same sexy manner since. He could probably have created a whole new beat with the nodding of his head. He had beats down, yeah! Beats are sexy!
7. He sold, like, 3m records, which means he has, like, £3m in his bank account, which means that I will soon be Mrs Flat Eric. It will be a union built on love. Sexy-sexy!
8. He was a bit like Phillip Schofield’s former loyal sidekick, Gordon the Gopher. But cooler. Way cooler. And sexy!
9. He had a guest-star role on the first season of The Office. Wikipedia describe him as a “prop”, but then Wikipedia is pants. Eric was the real star of the show and should have been offered a full-time contract. He could have been the Alexis to David Brent’s Krystle.
10. The puppet eclipsed the puppet master. Sexy!
by Natalie Dembinska
