BeWowed

Bibendum commonly referred to in English as the Michelin Man is the official mascot of the Michelin tire company. A humanoid figure consisting of stacked white tires, it was introduced at the Lyon Exhibition of 1894 where the Michelin brothers had a stand. He is one of the world's oldest trademarks still in active use. The slogan Nunc est bibendum ("Now is the time to drink") is taken from Horace's Odes. He is also referred to as Bib or Bibelobis.

While attending the Universal and Colonial Exposition in Lyon in 1894, Édouard and André Michelin noticed a stack of tires that suggested to Édouard the figure of a man without arms. Four years later, André met French cartoonist Marius Rossillon, popularly known as O'Galop, who showed him a rejected image he had created for a Munich brewery a large, regal figure holding a huge glass of beer and quoting Horace's phrase Nunc est bibendum. André immediately suggested replacing the man with a figure made from tires, and O'Galop adapted the earlier image into Michelin's symbol.

The 1898 poster showed him offering the toast Nunc est bibendum to his scrawny Brand X competitors with a glass full of road hazards, with the title and tag C'est à dire : À votre santé. Le pneu Michelin boit l'obstacle. The character's glass is filled with nails and broken glass, implying that Michelin tires will easily take on road hazards.

Bibendum's shape has changed over the years. O'Galop's logo was based on bicycle tires, wore pince-nez glasses with lanyard, and smoked a cigar. By the 1960s, Bibendum was shown running, often rolling a tyre as well, and no longer smoked. In 1998, his 100th anniversary, a slimmed-down version of him (sans glasses) was adopted. reflecting the lower-profile, smaller tires of modern cars. A computer-animated version of Bibendum has appeared in American television ads, with a pet puppy similar in appearance to him.