Now Louie the Fly is causing a buzz by trying to be immortalised in wax.
But the character in insect repellent Mortein ads, described by the company as "the lovable rogue" and the star of countless tv commercials, has been rejected by Madame Tussauds after he put in a bid to have his own waxwork created.
The waxworks museum based its rejection of the cartoon fly, who has more than 273,000 Facebook fans, on popularity. It said Louie would never be one of the "most requested" characters and wasn't the "right fit" or "popular enough" to earn a spot alongside some of Australia's biggest stars.
So now the household name - the face of Mortein since 1957 - is calling for Aussies to sign a petition to support his bid:"I'm an Aussie legend and have been buzzin' around a lot longer than some of the folks they have in there." Madame Tussauds have previously unveiled wax models of other non-human characters, including ET, Wolverine and Astroboy.
If Louie wins his battle, he'd be the smallest wax model in any Madame Tussands around the globe. His nearest rival is the UK museum's Tinker Bell who stands at just under 14cm.
Louie the Fly's long career includes countless tv commercials, newspaper and magazine appearances and his own cartoon in The Sunday Telegraph. But many readers may be unaware that Louie was actually created by the late novelist Bryce Courtenay! In an career in the advertising industry spanning 34 years, Bryce was the Creative Director of McCann Erickson, J. Walter Thompson & George Patterson Advertising. Among his award-winning campaigns were Louie the Fly and the original Milkybar Kid commercial.
The petition to help Louie's waxwork bid is available on www.louiethefly.com.au.
See Louie's ads over the years: [old] and [new].
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