15 votes

Why a tire company gives out food’s most famous award

5 comments

  1. Rudism
    Link
    Daniel Tosh interviewed French chef Rémi Lauvand on an episode of his podcast where they discussed this briefly, but the origin story there seems a little different than what this video suggests....

    Daniel Tosh interviewed French chef Rémi Lauvand on an episode of his podcast where they discussed this briefly, but the origin story there seems a little different than what this video suggests.

    Rémi's version was that the restaurant guide started off as an internally shared thing between Michelin salespeople to help each other find the best places to eat when they're traveling around selling tires. At some point restaurants picked up on the guide's existence and started advertising their stars, and the release of the guides and ratings to the wider population came almost as an afterthought and grew from there.

    Maybe that's compatible with what this video is saying and they just skipped over that part (or maybe I missed it) but assuming it's true I thought that was a particularly interesting tidbit.

    9 votes
  2. Tigress
    Link
    That was actually really interesting, thank you.

    That was actually really interesting, thank you.

    7 votes
  3. [3]
    semsevfor
    Link
    I assume the same reason why a brewery makes a world records book every year. More revenue avenues, more brand recognition/marketing, and expanding the company's interests/diversifying

    I assume the same reason why a brewery makes a world records book every year.

    More revenue avenues, more brand recognition/marketing, and expanding the company's interests/diversifying

    1. [2]
      Tigress
      Link Parent
      Or you could watch the video before commenting. TLDR: It was a way to get people to drive more (and use their tires) so they could sell more tires. Was free at first until it started being seen as...

      Or you could watch the video before commenting.

      TLDR: It was a way to get people to drive more (and use their tires) so they could sell more tires. Was free at first until it started being seen as trash and they realized if they charged for it people would take it more seriously.

      So... no, they weren't trying to expand their product past tires and really while it helped with brand recognition it was more just a way to get people to need their product more (encourage car use at a time when people were still suspicious).

      19 votes
      1. Tyragi
        Link Parent
        Ditto - I would actually say that the Guinness Book of World Records as a brand entity is completely divorced from it's origins of settling bar debates. Sometimes side projects take a life of...

        Ditto - I would actually say that the Guinness Book of World Records as a brand entity is completely divorced from it's origins of settling bar debates.

        Sometimes side projects take a life of their own - like Volkswagen currywurst - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_currywurst

        1 vote