Is More than likely you have never asked yourself this question. and, if you have done it, you are in luck. The truth is that it may seem like a maneuver of whitewashingbut reality, with history through it, is much more fun and allows us to see why the Michelin doll is white.
Something ironic, considering that we all associate black with the color of tires. However, the centenary Bibendum – this is the official name of the mascot of the French firmknown for its tires and its restaurant guide—is dressed in pristine white.
We also already know that its shape, round as it may be, has also allowed it to The ‘Michelin’ concept has passed into the collective imagination —in this case, with an accent— like those folds of fat that we accumulate in the abdomen and that, also popularly, we would call lorzas.
The truth, however, is that Bibendum since was created in 1898 He has always been radically white and black, beyond his eyes, has never been present. Which is still an apparent contradiction when, if someone asks us, we will tell them that there is no other color for tires than black.
However it was not always so. The truth is that rubber, which is the main material with which tires are made, It is naturally white. Extracted from various trees of the Euphorbiaceae family, especially the Hevea brasiliensis (which is known as the rubber tree), latex – the sap of the tree – is a milky emulsion that serves as raw material for the tire.
Reason why Bibendum, from the first moment it was white. Years later, with the addition of carbon to the rubber mixture, the tires mutated to a black color. It was not a capricious decision, but a necessity: adding rubber made the tires more durable.
Guide Michelin Spain Portugal 2023 – Espagnol
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In this way, the Michelin doll remained pristinely white, but the tire business would be dyed black forever. It has been changing in shape and stylization, going from an almost mummy-like shape to the doll we know today, but it has always been white.
As a final irony about Bibendum, a curiosity should be highlighted. His name and the famous phrase from the original poster “Nunc est bibendum” would be translated from Latin as ‘It’s time to drink’. Something that, evidently, It doesn’t sound very wise if we relate it to drinking and driving. However, what Bibendum boasted about on the poster was ‘drinking a glass of nails and glass’ that deflated and punctured his competitors, but not him.
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