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Originally posted by PASig:
The actual French pronounciation is “Me-Shel-Lan”

Just like the word for wine; Vin is pronounced “Van”

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Originally posted by Black92LX:
I heard a little tidbit about Michelin the other day. However I have no clue if true or not.

But supposedly the reason Michelin started reviewing restaurants was they wanted people to drive more (to sell more tires) so they started reviewing places to eat way out in the country side so the rich folks would drive their cars further and more often to these places that were getting great reviews but were not near the main town.

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There once was a time when people had to be convinced that a car was useful. That was the situation in 1895, when brothers Edouard and Andre Michelin developed a new design for a car tire at their rubber company in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

The brothers had a superior product: one of the first air-filled tires, which could be quickly replaced since it was not glued to the wheel. To prove its value, the brothers sponsored car races, which drivers with Michelin tires often won handedly.

But France had only around 350 cars in 1895. Automobiles “remained rich men’s toys… unable to stray very far from the vicinity of a reliable repair show,” Herbert Lottman writes in The Michelin Men. “The nascent motorcar could easily be dismissed by seasoned entrepreneurs on the lookout for realistic investments.”

In this environment, increasing the number of drivers—the motivation for the Michelin Guide—was more important than gaining an advantage over other tire manufacturers.

First published in 1900, the guide’s 399 pages contained all the information drivers needed to “go touring” through French towns and cities. Only restaurants attached to hotels were included, and they were listed rather than carefully rated. Information about installing and caring for Michelin tires occupied the first 33 pages, and ads for car part manufacturers occupied another 50 pages. Maps and basic information about dozens of towns made up the bulk of the guide.

For drivers, that information was essential. Gas stations did not yet exist, so drivers needed to know which pharmacies sold gasoline in several-liter containers. Motorists needed the timetables that listed when the sun set during the year, because highways did not yet have lights. Only a fraction of auto repair shops stayed open all year, which made it crucial to know which closed at the end of summer. Details like this distinguished the Michelin Guide from the tour books of the time, which assumed that people traveled by rail.

The Michelin brothers’ efforts to make driving easier extended beyond the guide. Once company employees began rating hotels, they made clear to hoteliers that they should offer free parking. They also lobbied the government to put up road signs for motorists—Edouard Michelin is sometimes credited with inventing road numbers, because he convinced the government to enlarge the numbers it painted on highway posts. At times, company men put up road signs themselves.

Similarly, a major aim of Michelin marketing was to promote the car as a way of life. “With a car, no more 5 a.m trains,” a Michelin ad in 1924 declared. “With a car, there is more opportunity for the pleasant things in family life.”

“Our industry is directly interested in the continual progress of automobiles, on which it depends,” Michelin once wrote in an article. In creating the guide, the brothers hoped to provide the information and infrastructure that would convince rich people to buy cars, drive throughout France, and buy Michelin tires.

Even if that meant creating an entire guidebook side-business to do it.

....

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Originally posted by PASig:
The actual French pronounciation is “Me-Shel-Lan”

Just like the word for wine; Vin is pronounced “Van”

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
I'm going to shoot the French theory down.

Here's a French Michelin commercial from 1958. They don't say "shay" when pronouncing it.

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Originally posted by Fla. Jim:
Kissimmee, Around my area since before I moved here in 57 has always been pronounced Ka-sem-me . Likewise Michelin we changed the e to an and the c to a s , and it’s pronounced Mi-sha-Lin .

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One thing I learned years ago is that Texans use similar tricks to spot Yankees. If you go to Bexar County and say "Bex-ar" everyone will know you're not a local.

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Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Ain't nothing but a thing. Just buy Goodyear tires