Real Choices: Watch This - Before the week is out...

YOU MAY have noticed a curious increase in car passengers head- banging to techno over recent weeks. If so, you can thank this furry yellow creature for it. Flat Eric - for it is he - is the star of Levi's TV campaign for its Sta-Prest "one crease" clothing range, and in a mere three weeks, he's gained a near cult following from both the advertising industry and the motoring public.

This is a little monster who cruises the American highways with his laidback mate Angel (Philippe Petit) at the wheel of a battered old wreck. Flat Eric swats flies, tricks cops, dances like a demon and slurps noisily on a drink called Whiz. (Captain Pugwash would be proud.) He even wears the latest plain white, no-label trainers. The perfect furry foil to Angel, who looks sharp and slick in his slacks, Flat Eric could be the dream icon beleaguered Levi's has been looking for. HB