The greatest marketers ever? The Michelin bros. They sold tires—by inventing fine dining. Ya... crazy. Here’s the insane marketing stunt behind Michelin Stars 👇
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A Michelin star: the most prestigious award in dining. Getting one star can increase your revenue by 30%. But Michelin’s really got NOTHING to do with food. They’re a tire company lol.
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Yes. A tire company created the world's most prestigious restaurant rating system. And it only gets weirder.. So It's 1900. France has exactly 2,897 cars.
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And they’ve only got 2,897 cars because driving sucks! - No gas stations (you buy fuel from pharmacies in cans) - No road signs (you just... guess?) - No maps (idk what that’s all about) But we’ve at least got these two chiclonnies:
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André and Édouard Michelin. Brothers who make tires together. But there's a problem…
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Oh, and they're competing with 150 other tire companies in France..
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Everyone's shouting about quality and price. Competing for those 2,897 cars. But the Michelin brothers realize something nobody else does:
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It’s brilliant!! Movement. The more people drive → The more their tires wear out → The more tires they buy. So the question becomes: How do you make people want to drive?
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1900. Bang:
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They launch that. The Guide Michelin. Their genius? They print 35,000 copies for that audience of 2,897 car owners. 11 copies per person:
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Just kidding. They printed all the extra copies to bet on a future that don’t exist yet. And they start giving them away for… FREE.
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Inside your Guide Michelin? Everything you need to survive:
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Maps. Gas stations. Hotels. Restaurants. Mechanics. Even how to repair your own tires. This isn't just a guide. It's a survival manual. A survival manual that MAKES you want to drive. But remember how France had no road signs or nothing? Kind of a problem if you’re to reliably get anywhere with this new book. So the Michelin bros install thousands of road signs across France:

Oct 10, 2025 · 1:24 PM UTC

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But look closely..
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POTEAU MICHELIN AKA ~Michelin Post~. AKA you’re right where you’re meant to be (in the sweet, sweet hands of your friends at Michelin). And these marketing tactics work massively! Cars in France explode:
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But the bros want more..
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So they get ready for their biggest marketing trick yet. The grand finale. The mother of all marketing tactics. Bumbadudumpdadummmmmmm:
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A star. But it’s not your average star, no, no. It’s a roundish, rubbery, ~MICHELIN~ star. And it has nothing to do with car tires. EVERYTHING to do with restaurants.. See, they start rating the restaurants in their guide with em.
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Noticed those words I started capitalizing there? I did that because those are driving words.. AKA these made-up Michelin restaurant ratings got people to get in their cars to want to drive somewhere. The better the restaurant, the farther you’d drive. The more you’d drive, the more you’d wear your tires down. The more you wear your tires down, THE MORE YOU HAVE TO BUY NEW MICHELIN TIRES. Genius.
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