Michelin tire ad by René Vincent circa 1916

Anonymous Anonymous

#1 – 11:12 AM August 17, 2009

They aren't fixing him, he's fixing them. It's Bibendum to the rescue!

Dr. Furter

#2 – 11:20 AM August 17, 2009

They are not fixing his belly, that doesn't make any sense, they are taking a tire from his belly to fix the shredded car tire.

RikF

#3 – 11:22 AM August 17, 2009

Fixing? I think they are pulling a roll of fat out of a gaping wound to replace their flat tire...

But maybe that's just me.

TJ S

#4 – 11:27 AM August 17, 2009

Agree with RikF, except that since the Michelin man is made of tires, I believe that he is giving the family a free replacement.

Not sure how to work a spare-tire/fat belly joke in here.

gabrielm

#5 – 11:41 AM August 17, 2009

Human hands on a dude made out of tires? Who did he steal those from? And whats with that gang that he's flashing?

Rob Beschizza

#6 – 12:04 PM August 17, 2009

This is the one that freaked out Cayce!

eyecrax

#7 – 12:10 PM August 17, 2009

Michelin man is white because back in the day they shipped tires in white paper (replaced with blue wax/plastic today), in this picture Michelin man is offering a love handle to help out the stranded family

Poiple

#8 – 12:16 PM August 17, 2009

Just wanted to chime in and say that the Michelin mascot's name is Bibendum. I've heard that he was named after the sound that a tire makes going over a bump in the road, although the pedia doesn't back this up.

zapan

#9 – 12:43 PM August 17, 2009

Wrong, he is named Bibendum because of a latin idiom "Bibedum bibendere" meaning I drank and I will drink again. That slogan was present on the early posters of the Bibendum man, where you could see him drink nails and shattered glass, to demonstrate the reliability of the Michelin tires.

procrastinet

#10 – 12:48 PM August 17, 2009

Apparently the first ad he appeared in featured the slogan "Nunc et Bibendum" (Now is the Time to Drink) as he prepared to quaff a glass full of tire-puncturing road hazards. Funny poster-centric blog post about it here.

Doomstalk

#11 – 12:57 PM August 17, 2009

Rob: "he took a duck in the face at 250 knots."

Halloween Jack

#12 – 2:08 PM August 17, 2009

Without the date for the poster, I'd have assumed that that was some Soviet satire of Western consumerism, especially with that dude on his knees, pulling the rubbery tube toward his mouth...

RikF

#13 – 6:54 PM August 17, 2009

Damn you Rob! I *should* be reading Foucault's history of sexuality. Now I'm hunting though my bookshelf for a little Gibson action. Thesis schmesis...

Anonymous Anonymous

#14 – 9:02 PM August 17, 2009

dude, the family is not "fixing Bibendum's belly", instead they are removing his spare tyre to replace their own.

Inconsequentiallogic

#15 – 1:50 AM August 18, 2009

Talk about weird ads. Check this one out. Although the ad is vintage, the message to me is clear. If you bathe with "this" soap, you're gonna get f###ed up!

Michał

#16 – 4:21 AM September 8, 2009

OMG I prefer new Michelin guy. This one looks very dramatic ;)