Bibendum
Encyclopedia
For the restaurant of the same name, see Michelin House
Bibendum, commonly referred to as the Michelin Man, is the symbol of the Michelin
tyre company. Introduced at the Lyon
Exhibition of 1894
where the Michelin brothers had a stand, Bibendum is one of the world's oldest trademark
s. The slogan Nunc est bibendum (Now is the time to drink) is taken from Horace
's Odes (book I, ode xxxvii, line 1). He is also referred to as Bib or Bibelobis.
While attending the Universal and Colonial Exposition in Lyon in 1894, Edouard and André Michelin noticed a stack of tire
s that suggested to Edouard the figure of a man without arms. Four years later, André met French cartoonist Marius Rossillon
, popularly known as O'Galop, who showed him a rejected image he had created for Munich brewery—a large, regal figure holding a huge glass of beer and quoting Horace's phrase "Nunc est bibendum". André immediately suggested replacing the man with a figure made from tires. Thus O'Galop transformed the earlier image into Michelin's symbol. Today, Bibendum is one of the world's most recognised trademarks, representing Michelin in over 150 countries.
The 1898 poster showed him offering the toast to his scrawny competitors with a glass full of road hazards, with the title and the tag ("That is to say, to your health. The Michelin tire drinks up obstacles"). The implication is that Michelin tires will easily take on road hazards. The company used this basic poster format for fifteen years, adding its latest products to the table in front of the figure. It is unclear when the word "Bibendum" came to be the name of the character himself. At the latest, it was in 1908, when Michelin commissioned Curnonsky
to write a newspaper column signed "Bibendum".
Since 1912, tires have taken on a black appearance because carbon is added as a preservative and strengthener to the base rubber material. Before then, tires took on a gray-white or light, translucent beige colour. This helps explain why Bibendum is white, though modern tires are black.
The name of the plump tire-man has entered the language to describe someone obese or wearing comically bulky clothing. (e.g. "How can I wrap up warm without looking like the Michelin Man?")
In Spanish
, michelín has acquired the meaning of the "spare tire
", or folds of fatty skin around the waist.
Bibendum's shape has changed over the years. O'Galop's logo was based on bicycle
tires, wore pince-nez
glasses with lanyard, and smoked a cigar
. By the 1980s, Bibendum was being shown running, and in 1998, his 100th anniversary
, a slimmed-down version became the company's new logo. He had long since given up the cigar and pince-nez. The slimming of the logo reflected lower-profile, smaller tires of modern cars. Bib even had a similar-looking puppy as a companion when the duo were CGI
animated for recent American television advertisements.
A history of the emblem was written by Olivier Darmon and published in 1997: Le grand siècle de Bibendum; Paris: Hoëbeke.
series, as the chariot
-wheel dealer in certain translations, including the English one, of Asterix in Switzerland
. (The original French version used the Gaulish warrior mascot of French service-station company Antar
.) The image also plays a key role in William Gibson
's novel Pattern Recognition
. Michelin sued the performance art
ist Momus
for releasing a song about the trademarked Michelin Man.
French reggae
band Tryo
have sung about Bibendum on their album Grain De Sable
. ('Mr Bibendum, he is truly enormous, Mr Bibendum; happiness in person').
In the 2009 animated, Academy Award-winning satire Logorama
, a series of Bibendi play police detectives, a sheriff, and a squad of SWAT personnel who all work together to try to bring down a psychotic, ultraviolent criminal played by Ronald McDonald
.
, the main character of William Gibson
's Pattern Recognition
, has an aversion to corporate brands and logos, Bibendum in particular.
Michelin House
Michelin House at 81 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London was constructed as the first permanent UK headquarters and tyre depot for the Michelin Tyre Company Ltd. The building opened for business on 20 January 1911.-Brief history:...
Bibendum, commonly referred to as the Michelin Man, is the symbol of the Michelin
Michelin
Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...
tyre company. Introduced at the Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
Exhibition of 1894
Colonial exhibition
A colonial exhibition was a type of international exhibition intended to boost trade and bolster popular support for the various colonial empires during the New Imperialism period, which started in the 1880s with the scramble for Africa....
where the Michelin brothers had a stand, Bibendum is one of the world's oldest trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
s. The slogan Nunc est bibendum (Now is the time to drink) is taken from Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
's Odes (book I, ode xxxvii, line 1). He is also referred to as Bib or Bibelobis.
While attending the Universal and Colonial Exposition in Lyon in 1894, Edouard and André Michelin noticed a stack of tire
Tire
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
s that suggested to Edouard the figure of a man without arms. Four years later, André met French cartoonist Marius Rossillon
Marius Rossillon
Marius Rossillon or O'Galop is a French artist and cartoonist, perhaps best known for creating Bibendum, the Michelin Man. Rossillon began his career around 1893, drawing cartoons for magazines. He is also a pioneer in animation and created about 40 animated films between 1910 and 1927....
, popularly known as O'Galop, who showed him a rejected image he had created for Munich brewery—a large, regal figure holding a huge glass of beer and quoting Horace's phrase "Nunc est bibendum". André immediately suggested replacing the man with a figure made from tires. Thus O'Galop transformed the earlier image into Michelin's symbol. Today, Bibendum is one of the world's most recognised trademarks, representing Michelin in over 150 countries.
The 1898 poster showed him offering the toast to his scrawny competitors with a glass full of road hazards, with the title and the tag ("That is to say, to your health. The Michelin tire drinks up obstacles"). The implication is that Michelin tires will easily take on road hazards. The company used this basic poster format for fifteen years, adding its latest products to the table in front of the figure. It is unclear when the word "Bibendum" came to be the name of the character himself. At the latest, it was in 1908, when Michelin commissioned Curnonsky
Curnonsky
Maurice Edmond Sailland , better known by his pen-name Curnonsky , and dubbed the Prince of Gastronomy, was the most celebrated writer on gastronomy in France in the 20th century. He wrote or ghost-wrote over 65 books and enormous numbers of newspaper columns...
to write a newspaper column signed "Bibendum".
Since 1912, tires have taken on a black appearance because carbon is added as a preservative and strengthener to the base rubber material. Before then, tires took on a gray-white or light, translucent beige colour. This helps explain why Bibendum is white, though modern tires are black.
The name of the plump tire-man has entered the language to describe someone obese or wearing comically bulky clothing. (e.g. "How can I wrap up warm without looking like the Michelin Man?")
In Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, michelín has acquired the meaning of the "spare tire
Love handles
Love handles can mean multiple things:* Love Handles, a Canadian television game show* A slang term for abdominal obesity...
", or folds of fatty skin around the waist.
Bibendum's shape has changed over the years. O'Galop's logo was based on bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
tires, wore pince-nez
Pince-nez
Pince-nez are a style of spectacles, popular in the 19th century, which are supported without earpieces, by pinching the bridge of the nose. The name comes from French pincer, to pinch, and nez, nose....
glasses with lanyard, and smoked a cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
. By the 1980s, Bibendum was being shown running, and in 1998, his 100th anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
, a slimmed-down version became the company's new logo. He had long since given up the cigar and pince-nez. The slimming of the logo reflected lower-profile, smaller tires of modern cars. Bib even had a similar-looking puppy as a companion when the duo were CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
animated for recent American television advertisements.
A history of the emblem was written by Olivier Darmon and published in 1997: Le grand siècle de Bibendum; Paris: Hoëbeke.
Unofficial representations
Bibendum made a brief guest appearance in the AsterixAsterix
Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...
series, as the chariot
Chariot
The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
-wheel dealer in certain translations, including the English one, of Asterix in Switzerland
Asterix in Switzerland
Asterix in Switzerland is the sixteenth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo...
. (The original French version used the Gaulish warrior mascot of French service-station company Antar
Antar (company)
Antar is a former petroleum company, founded by Pechelbronn SA in 1927 in Merkwiller-Pechelbronn, Bas-Rhin, Alsace. However, its origins go back to 1745 when a company was formed to develop the natural oil wells in the vicinity of Merkwiller-Pechelbronn. Prior to World War II it also used the...
.) The image also plays a key role in William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
's novel Pattern Recognition
Pattern Recognition (novel)
Pattern Recognition is a novel by science fiction writer William Gibson published in 2003. Set in August and September 2002, the story follows Cayce Pollard, a 32-year-old marketing consultant who has a psychological sensitivity to corporate symbols...
. Michelin sued the performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
ist Momus
Momus (artist)
Nick Currie , more popularly known under the artist name Momus , is a songwriter, blogger and former journalist for Wired...
for releasing a song about the trademarked Michelin Man.
French reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
band Tryo
Tryo
Tryo is a French language 'unplugged' reggae acoustic band, popular in Europe and in Quebec, with three French guitarists, a percussionist, and a producer: Guizmo, Christophe Mali, Manu Eveno, Daniel "Danielito" Bravo and Bibou....
have sung about Bibendum on their album Grain De Sable
Grain De Sable
Grain de sable is the third album by Tryo, it was released in June 2003. It is worth noting that there should have been another song on this album which in the end was taken off, the song "COGEMA" did not appear on Grain de sable...
. ('Mr Bibendum, he is truly enormous, Mr Bibendum; happiness in person').
In the 2009 animated, Academy Award-winning satire Logorama
Logorama
Logorama is a 16-minute French animated film written and directed by H5/ François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain, and produced by Autour de Minuit. The film depicts events in a stylized Los Angeles, and is told entirely through the use of more than 2,500 contemporary and historical...
, a series of Bibendi play police detectives, a sheriff, and a squad of SWAT personnel who all work together to try to bring down a psychotic, ultraviolent criminal played by Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. In television commercials, the clown inhabits a fantasy world called McDonaldland, and has adventures with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and...
.
In the media
Cayce PollardCayce Pollard
Cayce Pollard is the fictional protagonist of William Gibson's 2003 novel Pattern Recognition.- Personal history :Aged 32 during the events of the Pattern Recognition, Cayce lives in New York City. Though named by her parents after Edgar Cayce, she pronounces her given name "Case"...
, the main character of William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
's Pattern Recognition
Pattern Recognition (novel)
Pattern Recognition is a novel by science fiction writer William Gibson published in 2003. Set in August and September 2002, the story follows Cayce Pollard, a 32-year-old marketing consultant who has a psychological sensitivity to corporate symbols...
, has an aversion to corporate brands and logos, Bibendum in particular.