The story of Bibendum a.k.a. The Michelin Man
Bibendum or the Michelin Man as he is more widely known is the beloved face of the Michelin tyre brand and has been associated with the company for over 100 years.Not to be confused with the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the 1984 film Ghostbusters, one of the world’s oldest trademarks celebrates 120 years since conception. And most recently, he was named "Icon of the Millenium" by Advertising Week, the U.S. based global conference series for marketing, branding and advertising leaders. The way this strange looking marshmallow like figure come to be is a lot simpler than you may think.
The creation of the man made of tyres was the brain child of André and Edouard Michelin, the two brothers who ran the French tyre company. The idea came to them in 1894, as they stood in front of a pile of their bicycle tyres seeing a human-like silhouette. Just add some arms and you have a man.
To bring this idea of a tyre man to life, they enlisted the creative assistance of illustrator Marius Rossillon, also known as O’Galop. His final creation, a regal looking tyre man, holding a cup of nails and other sharp object proudly proclaiming in Latin "Nunc est Bibendum!" which translates to “Now is the time for drinking” and that is where the original Bibendum name came from.
One thing many of us have wondered is why the Michelin man is white if he is made of tyres. The original stack of tyres the brother’s had visualised him in were a stack of their white bicycle tyres, which back in the late 1800s was the standard design of the era.
From then on, Bibendum featured across all of Michelin’s advertising material through world wars, across different continents and even into non-tyre exploits which Michelin expanded into such as their famed guides.
The design of the Michelin Man has evolved over the years, aligned to consumer tastes and overall marketing styles. The original design of the Michelin Man had him smoking a cigar and wearing pince-nez glasses. Today he is a groovy, modern cartoon who no longer wears glasses (he’s obviously had laser surgery) and has given up smoking. The one thing that has remained the same is his confidence and goal of giving consumers comfort that they were in safe hands.
What marketing icon do you think is ‘Icon of the Millenium”? Let us know in the comments.
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