The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1922-03-15
CONTEST FOR NAMING i.
THE MICHELIN TIRE MAN

The Clarendon Motor Co., the To-
cal Michelin Tire dealer is very en-
thusiastic these days over the nation
wide contest now being conducted by
the Michelin Tire Company offering
100000 in cash and sixty-five other
prizes for securing suitable name
for the interesting tire man which
has been feature of Michelin adver-
tising for many years, and whose an
tics have amused countless thousands
of people.
1t seems this tire man already has
a name, but the Micheln Company
feels the name is not exactly suitable
because it is not name easily I'M
derstood or remembered, in short the
Michelin Man is known as Bibendum,
but while Bibendum is good name
in some countries, it is hardly suit
able for American use.
The story about the original NAM
ing of the Michelin Man takes the
ern pneumatic tire had its, birth
place in the Michelin Works at Cler-
! mont-Ferrand, city of 10000 busy
people away up in the mountains in
the South central part of the great
Republic beyond the seas. The story
goes that the Michclin Man was de-
veloped from a crude idea suggested
by workman in the Michelin fac
tory. This workman noticed that a
pile of tires, carclessly assembled,
bore crude resemblance to a man.
He mentioned this to member of the
advertising staff, who later developed
the idea, using tires of different sizes.
The services of the celebrated French
cartoonist O'Gallot were then called
in, and soon the Michelin Tire Man
became reality.
About the first public use of the
figure was on a poster where the Tire
Man was shown holding a goblet con-
tanning broken glass, horse shoe nails
and other terrors of the road, evident
ly in the act of proposing toast, the
wording being "Nunc est Bibcndum"
which is Latin for our more familiar
expression (before prohibition) of
"Here's How" From that time for
ward the Michelin Man was known
abroad as Bibendum, this name being
considered appropriate, because
Michelin advertising bore the message
that Michclin Tires "drank" or alb
sorbcd the shocks Of the road, and
broken stones, and so on.
The rules governing the present
contest are very simple. All l,thc con-
tcstant has to do is Of course first
find suitable name for the tire man
and appropriate slogan or phrase of
not more than ten words. This
sounds simple, but it isn't. No Won
der the Michelin Company is willing
to pay 100000 in cash for good
name for the famous tire man. Never
theless the company feels that good
name exists, and is willing to pay
this considerable sum to secure it
After selecting name and phrase the
contestant simply mails them to the
Michelin factory at Miltown, New
Jersey, sometime between March 1st
and March 25th. The contest closes
on March 25th and names sent in af
Of course the would-be contestant
should first learn all he can about
Michelin Tires and the Michclin Man
before he starts cudgcling his brains
for a name and phrase. To help him
the company has provided the Clar-
endon Motor Co., the local Michelin
dealer, with circulars telling all
about the House Of Michclin.
The Clarendon Motor Co., also has
printed postcard forms for use send
ing names; and while it is not neccs-
sary to secure either the circulars or
the contest cards, both will help the
contestant in his efforts to annex the
thousand dollars offered for the best
name and slogan.
The Michclin contest is being advcr-
tiscd all over the country in news
papers and such important publica-
tions as the Saturday Evening Post,
The Literary Digest, Life, and so on.
The Michelin Company believes in the
power of advertising through print
cr's ink, as most everyone knows
Adv.