Levi's Flat Eric (1999) - Wanted

The "I.D." ad of Levi's 1999 Sta-Prest campaign, in which Eric and Angel are able to convince a traffic cop that there's nothing unsavoury lurking beneath their wrinkle-resistant exterior, may be the best-remembered of Flat Eric's advertising career, and understandably so (in my recent coverage of the ad, I couldn't dredge up a single negative thing to say about it).  For me, however, this particular instalment, which came from the encore run of ads the characters received later that summer, will always be one which perfectly encapsulated the sleek, stylish and irresistibly bonkers spirit of the campaign.  There's not a single missed beat or wasted moment, and everything about it is so brilliantly done that I have no qualms in declaring it one of the finest ads of the 1990s.  It's blisteringly cool in ways that even one of Mr Oizo's "dirty house" tunes couldn't top.

No electro house beats feature here, just the peaceful ambience of a largely deserted-looking stop in California, as Eric and Angel survey their own wanted posters at the back of a mini mart, whereupon they whip out a couple of black markers, chew off the tops and proceed to deface one another's images.  Naturally, the folds in Angel's perfectly-pressed Sta-Prest attire have to go too - they're much too integral a component of his suave, imperturbable identity - so Eric carefully blots them out with correction fluid.  At this point, the unlikely partners in crime make a speedy getaway in their dented blue vehicle, escaping the notice of a cop who's sipping nonchalantly at the same variety of fizzy drink enjoyed by Eric in the earlier "Fly" instalment of the campaign, the sleeves of his uniform bearing the ungainly creases which mark him out as an unworthy adversary to the renegade man and puppet.

In the absence of music or dialogue, it falls upon the various little audio effects to convey a huge portion of the charm and character here, and the subtle succession of sounds made by the markers scribbling against the paper, the fluid being shaken and, of course, the spitting noises as Eric and Angel casually discard their marker tops, is entirely delightful, while the background ambience carries a muted "middle of nowhere" feeling that contrasts with the ostentatiousness of the earlier, beat-driven ads in the Flat Eric campaign.  The unspoken alliance between Eric and Angel, coupled with the slickness of their physical mannerisms, creates the perfect blend of deft style and bizarre kitsch that befits any campaign where one of the key characters is a fluffy yellow monkey-weasel on the run from the law.  In the end, it's simply a charming, laid-back story about resourcefulness, friendship and survival in the secluded cracks of society, executed with maximum flair and, of course, plenty of trust in the seductive appeal of that weird little puppet.