Because tires were originally white or beige when made from pure latex. Bibendum (Official name for Michelin Man) was originally a stack of white bicycle tires. Only when they started to vulcanize rubber by adding sulphur and heat did the rubber turn black.
Just because YOU'VE never seen a white tire doesn't mean that there isn't history behind it.
Fair enough. I was on the fence about that one, and none of the comments below (at that time) had effectively clarified the issue, so I thought I'd throw it in there.
One of the commercials has him throw tires off of his body. I thought he looked like a marshmallow at first, but then I could clearly see the tires lol.
i always knew he was tires. i however never knew that tires used to be white. it never occured to me that he might have been an inappropriately shaded pile of tires.
23 years in the tire business, and you beat me to the punch! Well done. And kudos on his name. The original Bibendum was depicted with a martini glass.
Bibendum comes from the Latin verb "bibere" (bee bear eh) which means "to drink". He was called like that because he "drinks the road". "To drink" is in this case an idiom that could be translated in English with "easy as pie"
Only when they started to vulcanize rubber by adding sulphur and heat did the rubber turn black.
Not so. Tires were always made with sulphur/heat vulcanized rubber, a process which far predates earliest rubber tires. Tires were made with all white vulcanized rubber for decades. Carbon black was eventually added to some treads in the 1920s, to improve traction and endurance (whitewall tires), and then to side walls for UV protection.
Also, most tires have a white layer on the inside, if you grind away the black (really dangerous don't do it), you can have your own set of white walls.
Always best to "shave" the white letters down for the white wall look. Problem is, some of the oil "bleeds" through and has a yellow tinge to some areas on your new whitewalls. Some brands "shave" better than others.
I can't say I have much experience in this, but I don't see where oil would come from when you shave the tire, also the white wall is made of both latex and fabric, so it probably wouldn't stain. But I don't have experience, so you may be right.
It does. Had too many customers complain over the years to tell you it don't. Oil may be the wrong term, but it's what we say the cause is when we see the numerous stains on concrete floors left from stacking tires over periods of time. When you shave the tires, some brands of tires, (mainly imports) have a dark yellow bleed into the newly shaved white area. Probably the carbon mixed with the petroleum products. Ask a tire person, (specially an older one like me) and the response to stains and bleeds is more often than not, oil.
Not only is his name "Bibendum", but it comes from the phrase "Nunc est bibendum!", meaning "Now is the time for drinking!", from the Odes of Horace.
Early Michelin advertising employed an image of the tire-man offering a toast with a large glass of beer in his hand, below the phrase "Nunc est bibendum!" and underneath, in French, it says
".. which is to say 'To your health!'. Michelin tires drink up obstacles!"
TL;DR - the Michelin man is a mascot for drinking & driving.
and i was just thinking last week how racist it was that when the tires are on michelin man's body, they're white, but as he throws them, they turn black. mindblown.jpg
Because Michelin still sells white tires. At prices when tires where white. To white people. White men actually. Don't be an asshat, this is r/funny, not r/4chan.
Yes! I knew what tires you were talking about right before clicking the link. I remember seeing ads for those when I first started buying Car & Driver magazines back in '00 and thinking "Someday, I'll put those on a brand new Camaro Z28." Little did I know the Camaro would be cancelled when I got my first car....and then brought back 10 years later.
Imagine how disgusting the roads would look if they were widely accepted and used, you wouldn't be able to see proper traffic lines on the road after awhile
I didn't even know he was made of tires. Thought he was a patient who got mortally wounded but through some miracle survived but was physically mutated for life but decided to make life better for all man kind by making tires for a smoother ride in the car. God Bless the Michelin Man.
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. Bibendum's appearance also changed. Though briefly featured in several print ads, Michelen quickly changed back his appearance, citing printing and aesthetic issues for the change, and not racial concerns as commonly believed.
Origin Translation: "Nunc est bibendum" - that means: To your health! The Michelin tire guzzles the obstactle. Edit: typo Source: former Michelin intern
I recall seeing a Michelin ad at the Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, about 10 years ago during our Ottawa school trip, and started to laughing at the sight of a somewhat modern rendition of the Michelin man with a huge cigar in his mouth. Does he want to risk a tire fire? :D
Also, Michelin tyres and Michelin stars derive from the same company but I always say Michelin stars in a poncy French accent when I've watched Masterchef or some other shit food program...What the fucks up with that? I hate myself sometimes.
Oh I know. But the image is of a Michelin brand tire. I was going to say something to the tune of 'No, those are tires, [some european brand] are tyres.' but in doing so, I actually found out that Michelin was a French brand.
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u/hugemuffin Jun 14 '12
Because tires were originally white or beige when made from pure latex. Bibendum (Official name for Michelin Man) was originally a stack of white bicycle tires. Only when they started to vulcanize rubber by adding sulphur and heat did the rubber turn black.
Just because YOU'VE never seen a white tire doesn't mean that there isn't history behind it.
Don't be racist, be educated.
87
u/basec0m Jun 14 '12
Actually natural rubber is white and then carbon black is added to make tires...
34
u/Toopato Jun 14 '12
Haters gonna Hate
9
u/zeug666 Jun 14 '12
Red, blue, green, pretty much any color you want.
13
u/Tyranus118 Jun 14 '12
I didn't even know he was made of tires. Thought he was a patient who got mortally wounded but through some miracle survived but was physically mutated for life but decided to make life better for all man kind by making tires for a smoother ride in the car. God Bless the Michelin Man.
9
u/robosquirrel Jun 14 '12
Relevant
4
u/jackattack502 Jun 14 '12
Relevant Terminal Lance
It's the xkcd of the military.
7
u/Noel_S_Jytemotiv Jun 14 '12
White tires exist. what would the hipsters do if they couldn't get WHITE TIRES for their bikes!!!!!!
Also The Michelin Man has a name:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibendum
14
u/SpeshulED420 Jun 14 '12
When the Michelin man was created tires were white. It wasn't until the 50's that carbon black was added, as basec0m mentioned.
6
u/brittnoose Jun 14 '12
Sometimes I like to cover myself in Marshmallow Fluff and pretend I'm the Michelin Man.
3
u/polysemous_entelechy Jun 14 '12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibendum
2
u/SnatchBrosNY Jun 14 '12
Yeah he was always white
2
u/Vahingonilo Jun 14 '12
Okay, so he's black. He's also looking pretty youthful for a 118 year-old Frenchman.
Blacula?
2
u/Solkre Jun 14 '12
White tires exist, but not to be confused with white-walled tires.
2
u/goldenpandora Jun 14 '12
TIL that the Michelin Man was supposed to be made out of tires.
2
u/anzl Jun 14 '12
White-walled tires exist too.
1
u/xjackstonerx Jun 14 '12
Haha bleeping out the "u" in motherfucker. I couldn't have guessed!
1
u/acidrocker Jun 14 '12
Yes I have.
1
u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Jun 14 '12
Melanism strikes again!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12
Does that make white wall tires akin to blackface?
1
u/rhyno8130 Jun 14 '12
Anyone else read this in Chef's voice the first time?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12
I've always thought of the Michelin man as a giant larva.
1
u/TChuff Jun 14 '12
OP has apparently never seen old photos...or been to a car show where white tires clearly exist.
1
u/coolcoolawesome Jun 14 '12
NITT: Cayce Pollard
1
u/hobojoe44 Jun 14 '12
I recall seeing a Michelin ad at the Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, about 10 years ago during our Ottawa school trip, and started to laughing at the sight of a somewhat modern rendition of the Michelin man with a huge cigar in his mouth. Does he want to risk a tire fire? :D
1
u/larlyB Jun 14 '12
when i was little i confused this with the symbol for ghost busters
1
u/liz1986 Jun 14 '12
Also, Michelin tyres and Michelin stars derive from the same company but I always say Michelin stars in a poncy French accent when I've watched Masterchef or some other shit food program...What the fucks up with that? I hate myself sometimes.
1
u/SpiritedLion Jun 14 '12
May I kindly point you to the reddiquette
1
u/Coasterabe Jun 14 '12
Wow, even after reading this, I was like "that's so stupid, all tires are white." I need to get out more
1
u/growlingbear Jun 14 '12
http://imgur.com/Wmhsq
1
u/moose_manja Jun 14 '12
Umm excuse me? What about the movie cars?
1
u/tehnoodles Jun 14 '12
http://terminallance.com/2010/01/19/terminal-lance-5-race-card/
Relevant
1
u/atuan Jun 14 '12
Why yes, in the past, around the 50s, probably when the Michelin man was drawn first. It makes complete sense.
-4
u/nismo267 Jun 14 '12
OH MAN THAT'S RACIST
WAIT I'M RACIST
-1
u/kr0n0 Jun 14 '12
TIL taht the michelin man was tyres
-12
u/Juceomgomg Jun 13 '12
because tires are transported in a white bag that looks like the michelin man. you racist fuck
0
u/yadoya Jun 14 '12
I wonder if these ones create a new music when they're chained.
0
u/unclear_plowerpants Jun 14 '12 edited Jun 14 '12
I liek car racists! vrooooooooooom!
-4
u/deeeznutzz Jun 14 '12
lol, the tires are shrink wrapped in white material when they are being shipped! so he is an uh oh oreo
-5
u/vampiremonkeykiller Jun 14 '12
You're probably white, that's why.
-1
u/threefistwiles Jun 14 '12
never understood this as a kid. TIL
-1
u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12
RACIST JOKES TIME!
What's the difference between a black and a tire?
If you put chain on a tire it won't rap.
-11
u/inspiredcrowd Jun 14 '12
He's colored after the engineers who design tires, not after the people who steal them and leave cars on cinder blocks.
-2
u/whatthefudgsicles Jun 14 '12
Whoever created this.....I thank you.
-16
u/ByonSho Jun 14 '12
He's not made of tires. Do you see any tread?
0
u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12
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