🦐 + 🛞: Michelin Stars vs. Michelin Tires: The $20 Guide That Rewired The Entire Restaurant Industry

You ever walk into a restaurant so fancy it feels like you're being judged by the bread?

You know the ones: the host has cheekbones sharp enough to slice prosciutto. The menu has no prices (just words like "essence" and "deconstructed”**) and most dishes are just foam on a plate with a verb for a name.

(**You don’t order food here, you experience it.)

And somewhere on the wall (or whispered by the sommelier) you get that vibe that they’re trying to tell you something…

I always find these types of restaurants fascinating because these restaurants typically draw a very specific clientele with that one little star…

Even though the Michelin star “rating system”…is entirely made up. 😅

Restaurants across the globe base their entire business model on being or becoming a Michelin-star restaurant. They spend thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars on world-class chefs, crystal glassware, and dishes with ingredients like "fois gras” every year in the hopes that they’ll win (or retain) their precious Michelin star.

(I have a point to this rant, I promise).

Before this system was put in place, people just went to restaurants and ate.

Didn’t matter if it was upscale or hole-in-the-wall, if you were driving through town and needed a place to eat, there was no way to tell what kind of experience you would get from place to place. You just had to take your chances (and hopefully not get food poisoning in the process).

The Michelin star changed all of that.

The Michelin star rating system single handedly changed the entire restaurant industry by requiring restaurants to increase the quality of their overall experience…not just their food. Michelin star restaurants had to come to the table with exceptional experiences - from the table clothes to the desserts - just to be associated with the name.

So imagine my surprise this week when I found out that the Michelin star system…was invented by a tire company. 🤯🤯🤯

A literal rubber manufacturer.

Not a French food board. Not Julia Child. Not some elite culinary order. Nope.

Michelin freakin’ Tires.

I’ve been in marketing for 17+ years and I’m just now finding out that one of the most powerful status symbols in global culture was born out of a customer acquisition funnel…for car parts.

Let me explain this madness to you, because this story is pure accidental branding magic. And I can’t get enough of it. 🤩

🚗 How to Sell Tires…By Rating Restaurants

Let’s set the scene.

It’s 1900. There are fewer than 3,000 cars in all of France. Roads are basically dirt, mechanics are guys named Jacques whose business acumen comes down to wrench and a shrug. People are terrified of driving.

Two brothers (André and Édouard Michelin) had just started their tire company and were looking for ways to scale (which was hard to do, considering…no one owned a car.)

So they sat down and began to formulate a plan. Eventually they decided:

In theory, this made perfect sense. It was logical, and basically obvious. Very French.

But instead of running a bunch of ads in their local newspaper showing the benefits, features, and “transformation” behind owning a car…they did something completely different:

They created a free guidebook (The Michelin Guide) to help drivers:

• Find mechanics

• Locate gas stations

• Know which hotels to sleep in

• And… discover new restaurants

This practical guide was super handy. It was chalk full of charming line drawings and polite suggestions for places to go, things to see, and delicious things to eat. It was a destination guide built to entice people to do the thing that came just before owning a car…which was dream about how lovely it would be to travel.

Most importantly: it was bait.

Because if you drive more, you burn more rubber. And when you need new tires, guess who’s ready with your next set?

Michelin.

The OG content marketers were slinging whitewall sidewalls, not white truffle risotto, but that didn’t matter because what happened next would change the course of restaurants and tires forever…

🍴 Food Steals the Show

Fast forward a couple decades, and people are still using the Michelin guide. In fact, the guide itself is an absolute hit. Travel is increasing and people are finding a newfound joy in loading up the car and driving around the country.

But they’re not using it quite like Michelin expected. In fact, they’re flipping right past almost everything in the book and going straight to the food section every time.

(Turns out: humans are weirdly motivated by cheese and charcuterie.)

Michelin notices: these drivers aren’t just driving for errands. They’re driving for experiences. For that cozy inn with the perfect bouillabaisse. That countryside place with rabbit stew and good wine.

So in 1926, Michelin quietly adds a single ⭐ next to a few select restaurants who meet their “best in class” standards.

There was no big reveal to this rating system. No TikTok launch. No Guy Fieri collab.

Michelin just added one little symbol to any restaurant that said:

That one little star was the equivalent of the quiet kid in class who everyone think isn’t paying attention, then one day mutters one epic sentence and suddenly becomes class president.

It meant something.

And it went old-school viral, quick.

⭐ From Spark to Inferno: The Rise of the Star System

By 1931, the people were going crazy for Michelin’s star rated restaurants. They raved about them, asked for more of them, and went out of their way to get to them.

But they wanted more structure (presumably because they couldn’t figure out which “starred” restaurant was the best out of all the “starred” restaurants. Leave it to humans to want a rating system for the rating system…)

So Michelin formalized the now-iconic system with three tiers:

• ⭐ = Very good in its category

• ⭐⭐ = Worth a detour

• ⭐⭐⭐ = Worth a special journey

That last one was key:

These restaurants weren’t just “a good place to eat.”

These restaurants were special.

The kind of place that made people yell to your family up the stairs: “Gas up the Renault. Call your cousin. Pack a toothbrush. We’re going to this restaurant!”

Assigning a restaurant three stars essentially turned a meal into a mission.

It made food a reason to travel, and Michelin (the tire company) became the president of fine dining.

😰 Chefs Began to Lose Sleep (and Sanity)

Now here’s where things get kind of spicy, because as this system grew, and more restaurants started to fight for that coveted “three star” position, and the humans inside the restaurants started to act different.

Chefs weren’t just aiming for stars. They were agonizing over them. Losing sleep over them. And doing whatever necessary to get them.

Because once that little red book gave you a star, your life changed.

• Reservations skyrocketed.

• Prices doubled.

• Your waitlist grew longer than a Target receipt.

The pressure was crippling.

Some chefs famously returned their stars because the anxiety was too much. Others mentally broke down when they lost one. (To this day, chefs will literally sue for defamation after being downgraded. 🤯)

Kitchen staff would scrub silverware with toothbrushes. Dishes were plated like architecture. Some chefs even learned to identify Michelin inspectors by their shoes (they were always new) in an attempt to get ahead of their inspection.

Now, let me stop and remind you: the star system wasn’t even real.

All that this behavior was happening because a tire company decided they wanted people to drive more. What started as a marketing play ended up changing the entire restaurant and tire industry forever.

All because two business owners decided to play the long game and go after behavior and psychology over features and benefits.

🧾 A Lasting Legacy

Fast forward to today, and the Michelin star restaurant book is still very much alive and well. Chefs are still building entire business models around chasing stars. Many restaurants design their entire ecosystem just for Michelin inspectors:

• Precise service

• Seasonally optimized menus

• Plates that look like art museums

The impact of the Michelin star is very real:

• Some restaurants see 40% spikes in revenue after receiving a star

• Waitlists stretch for months for top-tier restaurants

• Tourism departments will fund restaurants just to get their city on the map

One star gets you local celebrity status.
Two stars, and you’re nationally famous.
Three stars, and consumers and celebrities alike are gonna to travel thousands of miles just to dine at your establishment.

All because a tire brand wanted you to burn more rubber in 1900.

This isn’t just a French thing anymore either. Michelin has expanded into:

• Tokyo (which has more stars than Paris!)

• New York

• Singapore

• Dubai

• Seoul

Entire cities now court Michelin like they’re bidding for the Olympics, yet Michelin still keeps the same vibe: just taste. Criteria. And mystery.

And somehow, the brand has kept its aura for nearly 100 years. (Which is nearly impossible in the attention economy, so props to those guys.)

🧨 So Why Does This Story Matter to Marketers?

I can’t get enough of this story, because it’s the clearest example of how a side product that had nothing to do with the features, benefits, transformations, and/or “jobs to be done” became the entire brand.

Michelin didn’t say: “Let’s discount our tires!” or, “We’re the best in the biz!”

Instead, they went after the obvious: “Let’s just make it easier to want to drive.”

Their useful content became trusted. Their trusted content became status. Their status became aspiration. And aspiration = brand power.

Real power isn’t built on noise. It’s built on behavior + repetition + meaning.

And that’s what Michelin nailed. Accidentally, but masterfully.

TLDR

• Michelin Stars started as a tire company’s travel guide

• One little ⭐ turned into a global cultural symbol

• Chefs began treating them like Olympic medals

• And Michelin never had to yell…they just made it easier to want something people didn’t know they wanted yet.

That’s the power of behavioral + psychological marketing.

Your takeaway:

👩‍🍳 Closing Bite

Next time you eat at a Michelin Star restaurant (or spot one while you’re out for a drive), remember: you’re not just dining at a restaurant. You’re looking at the world’s most successful tire ad.

Bon appétit, baby.

P.S. Next week, we’re unpacking why a $2 ad with zero budget outperformed a $2M campaign with professional copy, big-name talent, and six editors.

Share this with a friend so they don’t miss out!

Until next week:

🦕 Sarah

🚨 Dex’s Trend Alert: 4,500% Spike – The Shoes Are Bought. Now Comes the Panic.

This week’s fastest-growing trend isn’t about what to buy. It’s about how not to mess it up. “White cement 4s outfits” just started trending with ↑ 100% this week ↑ 4,500% year-over-year.

📈 The Signal:
This isn’t a product trend. It’s a styling anxiety spike.

Search behavior like this means one thing: Consumers are buying aspirational products before they’ve figured out how to become aspirational people.

They didn’t Google this before buying. They Googled it after, because now they need the social script to justify the purchase.

This is where identity gets wobbly:

• “Do I look like I know what I’m doing?”

• “Will people think I’m trying too hard?”

• “Is there a cool way to wear these without looking like I’m trying to be cool?”

🧠 The Diagnosis:
We’re not in the sneaker era. We’re in the self-concept construction era.

Here’s what this trend actually reveals:

→ Post-purchase uncertainty
People want the feeling of style confidence—without having to earn it. So they Google their way into a persona.

→ Fit anxiety > price anxiety
They already spent $215. Now the emotional cost is higher: Will the outfit betray the fantasy?

→ Pinterest > Product Pages
Most brands still sell the item. Smart brands sell the outfit arc. The identity wrapper that makes the thing make sense.

📌 How to capitalize (without giving mall mannequin energy):

🛍️ For DTC Brands
Don’t stop at “here’s what it is.”
Show them who it turns them into.
→ “The shoes are loud. The outfit should whisper confidence.”
→ “Your first 4s fit? Don’t overthink it—just copy this one.”

🎥 For Creators & Media Buyers
Make styling emotional. Not tactical.
→ POV: You bought the 4s. Now you’re Googling like your social life depends on it.
→ Ad angle: “Things I wore with my 4s that got compliments vs. stares”

🧠 For Strategists
This is the post-purchase moment no one’s tracking.
Your best ROAS might come from ads aimed at buyers who already converted—but need to feel like they made the right choice.

Create content that confirms they’re now a better version of themselves.
Even if they just bought the shoes to impress their cousin at brunch.

💡 Pro Move:
Run a “Which Sneaker Persona Are You?” quiz.
Map their style anxiety to emotional archetypes, then recommend outfit bundles, creators to follow, or even mindset playlists.

It’s not just a quiz. It’s post-purchase onboarding for their new identity.

Until next time—
Stay curious, stay creepy, and remember:
If they’re Googling how to wear it…
They’ll probably buy more just to feel like they belong in it.

– Dex 👟🕵️‍♂️