# Why is the Michelin man white? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294 "2008-01-20T21:45:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/1 "2008-01-20T21:45:57Z")
Tires are not white. So why is he? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/2 "2008-01-20T21:51:36Z")
[QUOTE=Love Rhombus] Tires are not white. So why is he? [/QUOTE] At the time he was invented, tires were white. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewall_tire): > [@](#): > > Early automobile tires were made entirely of natural white rubber, however, the white rubber did not offer sufficient traction and endurance so carbon black was added to the rubber used for the treads. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/3 "2008-01-20T21:55:36Z")
Because he’s racist! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/4 "2008-01-20T23:16:52Z")
He’s actually made of rolled condoms. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/5 "2008-01-20T23:18:45Z")
That’s interesting. I always suspected it was a literal whitewashing of a historically racist image, like that of the [brand of toothpaste](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlie) popular in Taiwan formerly called “Darkie”, now “Darlie”, in English (but retaining its Chinese name of “Black Man’s Toothpaste”). The idea being that black people are so black, their teeth are extra white in contrast. :dubious: I remember visiting my grandparents in Taiwan in 1980 and being just floored looking at the tube of toothpaste in their house. Then, 7 or 8 years later when my grandmother came to the US to live with us, she brought the “less offensive” version of the toothpaste with her. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/6 "2008-01-21T00:41:08Z")
If he were black he’d look even more like a poo. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/7 "2008-01-21T01:46:03Z")
And the costume would be even more unbearable in a Fourth of July parade if it was black. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/8 "2008-01-21T01:48:47Z")
Michelin man and Stay Puff Marshmellow Man are cousins. ---
**Author:** ![onedayfishsale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onedayfishsale/32/4398_2.png) [@onedayfishsale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/onedayfishsale)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/9 "2008-01-21T01:58:34Z")
I just came across a [CNN article](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/09/19/8272906/index.htm) that agrees with **Johnny L.A.**'s assertion. Bibendum (a.k.a. “The Michelin Man”) was white because tires were completely white until around 1912, and Bibendum was first introduced in 1897. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/10 "2008-01-21T03:09:53Z")
\ “You can’t just ask people why they’re white!” \ ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/11 "2008-01-21T05:49:00Z")
Because Michelin is a French name, and most French people are white (so far, at least). ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/12 "2008-01-21T10:43:13Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] Because Michelin is a French name, and most French people are white (so far, at least). [/QUOTE] The residents of Algeria and the former French West Africa and French Indochina would like a word with you about that… ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/13 "2008-01-21T10:58:50Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] The residents of Algeria and the former French West Africa and French Indochina would like a word with you about that… [/QUOTE] Do you want to think about that some more? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/14 "2008-01-21T11:14:29Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] Do you want to think about that some more? [/QUOTE] When the Michelin Man was first designed, those places were part of France (or were French colonies). I’m aware that’s not the case now. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-michelin-man-white/434294/15 "2008-01-21T12:30:08Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] Do you want to think about that some more? [/QUOTE] Gaudaloupians are mostly not white. That is an actual part of France.