this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2026
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Funny

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[–] YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 85 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It is weird when you think about it.

[–] dalekcaan@feddit.nl 92 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Similarly, the Guinness book of records was started by Guinness the beer brand to settle pub arguments.

[–] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 5 points 6 days ago

The early ones are fantastic too. They go into real depth on a lot of the records.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 39 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Yeah. I always assumed the name Michelin was just a coincidence. I was incredulous when I found out that it's the same company. Genuinely weird thing for a tire company to do.

[–] alci@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Michelin also edited road maps and built milestones to help early time drivers find there way on the roads !

[–] LostCarcosan@lemmy.today 3 points 6 days ago

I miss the days when companies realized that improving everyone's lives meant they'd have more time and money to spend on their products

[–] Jarix@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

They did not start it for the reason in the comic. That is a complete fabrication.

It was an internal list of restaurants to wine and dine fine clients, and it was a massive success and many people who wanted to know where to take their own clients kept trying to find out about the Michelin list

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I always knew because my parents had this book with the tire guy on it:

I don't remember if it mentioned restaurants in it as well, but the association with them and travel guides made the connection for me, I guess.

[–] Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

Nah that’s the green guide. It’s focused on sight seeing and cultural attractions.

The red guide is the restaurant one.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

That's a cool looking booklet.

[–] Equinox1289@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 week ago

Nah, originally it was just a complementary map for those who bought tires. They ended up just being the most reputable reviewer with their star system that it became a prestige thing afterwards.

[–] Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 week ago

I mean, when you're a tire company and not a lot of people have cars or good reasons to put lots of miles on them...