MySQL date formats – difficulty Inserting a date

Put the date in single quotes and move the parenthesis (after the 'yes') to the end:

INSERT INTO custorder 
  VALUES ('Kevin', 'yes' , STR_TO_DATE('1-01-2012', '%d-%m-%Y') ) ;
                        ^                                     ^
---parenthesis removed--|                and added here ------|

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But you can always use dates without STR_TO_DATE() function, just use the (Y-m-d) '20120101' or '2012-01-01' format. Check the MySQL docs: Date and Time Literals

INSERT INTO custorder 
  VALUES ('Kevin', 'yes', '2012-01-01') ;