"One of the world's largest tire makers and an international corporation with interests in countries around the world, Michelin is also a uniquely French company, one that throughout its history has closely identified itself with the French people and their culture. In the process, it has helped shape the self-image of twentieth-century France. In Marketing Michelin, Stephen L. Harp provides a provocative history of the company and its innovative advertising campaigns between 1898, when Bibendum - the company's iconic "Michelin Man" - was first introduced, to 1940, when France fell to the Nazis and the company's top executive, Edouard Michelin, died. Both events indelibly changed the company and the context in which it operated."--BOOK JACKET.