The Michelin-liveried tram at Blackpool in 1998

This month, one of our volunteers - Paul Niblett - has written a guest blog to accompany his donation of a Corgi Michelin liveried tram featuring ‘Bibendum’, better known as the iconic ‘Michelin Man’. Read all about how this scale replica was designed specially for Blackpool illuminations in 1988.

Creator of iconic ‘Bibendum’ Michelin Man charactor, Marius Rossillon photographed c. 1910.

The Michelin Man, whose original name Bibendum is still commonly used in various parts of the world, notably in France, was created by the French graphic artist Marius Rossillon (1867-1946).
Brothers André and Edouard Michelin had noticed two piles of tyres on their stand at the 1894 Universal and Colonial Exhibition in Lyon. Edouard remarked to André: “add some arms and you’d say they were men.” A short time later Rossillon called on the brothers with some advertising ideas. One was of a corpulent beer-drinking character which he had created for a Munich brewery and which they had rejected. “Re-work it in tyres,” André Michelin said. The resulting character first appeared in 1898 with the slogan ‘Nunc est Bibendum’. Rossillon’s character is still very much a part of Michelin, subtly changing over time, and voted the best logo ever by a Financial Times survey in 2000.

Any logo which reaches its centenary must say something special about it and inevitably presents an opportunity for a celebration. Rather than have one specific day for Bibendum’s birthday, the company decided to organise ‘1998 - The Year of Bibendum’ during which many opportunities were taken to celebrate the centenary throughout the year. Michelin has a global presence and had over 120,000 employees based in research centres, factories and commercial offices in many countries.

All employees were encouraged to offer suggestions about what could be done locally, nationally and internationally. Some projects were developed on an international basis but many events were created locally. By way of example, Michelin UK’s four factories and commercial headquarters at the time launched fundraising events in the name of Bibendum. The result of family fun days, employee dress-down days, sports competitions etc culminated in employee representatives attending the BBC’s Children in Need evening in London where they presented a cheque for £100,000 to the appeal.

Some of the more local actions included turning Dundee’s gasometer into a giant birthday cake, complete with candles! At Burnley, the grassy bank of the so-called ‘straight mile’ of the Leeds and Liverpool canal became the site for a giant floral Bibendum. All the local authorities concerned were highly supportive of the year of celebration and gave much-valued assistance.

The Midlands and the North of England have a soft spot for Blackpool and its long tradition of illuminations, itself over 100 years old. This was noted in the planning stages for ‘The Year of Bibendum’ intending to participate in some way or another. The choice was to be either an illuminated display on the seafront or the decoration of one of Blackpool’s famous trams. Trams may not run on pneumatics (yet!) but they are decidedly a means of transport and they have a distinct presence.

Part of Michelin’s international plan at the time was to overhaul its corporate image: the year was an ideal opportunity to review and update all aspects of communication, particularly that of advertising. In consequence, a whole new corporate livery was developed and that included the needs of the company’s vehicle fleet. The tram was a perfect means of presenting the new livery, which would be launched on Michelin UK’s trucks and vans in 1998.

Ian Pipe, head of the company’s UK graphics studio, devised the covering of Blackpool’s Balloon car 721 using contravision vinyl to great effect. It was an arresting design! A launch event was held where employees from Burnley and Stoke-on-Trent factories took rides up and down the promenade. The weather was rather wet – it was Blackpool after all – but the dreariness of the skies was well and truly dispelled when the group went to Harry Ramsden’s for a fish and chip lunch (and a spot or two of ale was downed too!).

The tram was considered a highly successful project and so it continued to run in its full livery until 2004. Perhaps, not surprisingly, it wasn’t long before the model makers’ attention was drawn to it and Michelin gave permission for Corgi to produce the example shown, under its Original Omnibus Company series.