Make the World Need More Tires Before Selling Them

“Another initiative to popularize the House and its products: maps and guides. In 1900, one year after the first Tour de France by car, Bibendum made its first big move: the publication of the first Michelin tire guide, which informed new motorists—wealthy people accustomed to a certain class—about well-kept hotels, good restaurants, and ways “to communicate by mail, telegraph, or telephone.” André Michelin, who created it, intended this red-covered guide for chauffeurs and cyclists, to whom it would be offered free of charge if requested. As it would appear each year in the early days of spring, it would soon become, in the House’s advertising, “the motorists’ Easter egg.””

“It’s a success. The signage commission of the ministry adopts the corner marker at intersections. Michelin will be able to mark thousands of kilometers of roads with thousands of markers, direction posts, signals, orientation tables that constitute exceptional advertising material for the brand[22](private://read/01jkqdqdgs7t399cyecbezrhj0/#ftn_fn22).”