Marius Rossillon, known as O’Galop, was a French artist and cartoonist. He is best known for creating Bibendum, also known as the Michelin Man, the official mascot of the tire company. O’Galop created his first advertisement for Michelin in 1898 and continued producing posters featuring Bibendum for the company until 1911. He was also a pioneer in animation, making around 40 animated films between 1910 and 1927.

From beer king to Michelin man

The designer O'Galop originally drew this poster for a German brewery, featuring a stout king raising a beer mug. The brewery rejected the design. But when the Michelin brothers discovered the sketch, they immediately saw in it a figure made of car tires. In fact, back in 1894, André and Édouard Michelin had seen a stack of car tires at an exhibition in Lyon that, with a little imagination, resembled an armless figure. They bought O’Galop’s design and asked him to turn the king into the Michelin Man. The idea was that Michelin tires could effortlessly ‘drink up’ every obstacle on the road. And so the world-famous Michelin Man was born.