Mention the Michelin Tire and Rubber Company and most consumers think of the company's trademark mascot, a jovial, robust giant named Bibendum introduced by the French tire maker in 1898.

According to legend, the character was conceived in 1894 when one of the Michelin brothers looked at a pile of their tires and observed, "If it had arms, it would look like a man." The comparison went nowhere, and the company stuck with its slogan, "The tire that swallows obstacles," until an advertising man, named O Galop, happened to show the brothers a sketch of a portly Bavarian holding up a beer mug and proclaiming "Nunc est bibendum!" (Now is the time to drink!). That linked the idea of a tire capable of "drinking" nails and other sharp objects.

The character got its name during the first international Paris-Amsterdam-Paris auto race in 1898, when Andre Michelin's Panhard overtook another race car and the driver was overheard shouting, "There goes bibendum!"

Bibendum, better known in the U.S. as the Michelin Man, became a familiar figure in the 1920s as the sale of motorcars soared. Appearing on all kinds of promotional materials and mounted in three-dimensional form on delivery trucks, the Michelin Man personified the inflatable product in a witty way. He enabled the company to give a recognizable face and friendly personality to an otherwise very utilitarian product. Unlike many trademark personalities such as Betty Crocker who gets a "facelift" every few decades to remain current, the Michelin Man still looks surprisingly contemporary, and few would guess from appearances that he is 100 years old.