I remember watching a video on how Michelin Stars started out as a travel guide brochure for the best restaurants in France as a sort of advertisement for Michelin branded tyres (look at all these restaurants you could go to with Michelin tyres!).
How did the Michelin stars become so sought after by top restaurants and chefs? Was the head of the Michelin tyre company also a renowned food connoisseur or something? What about other tyre companiee, why didn’t they do something similar? Are Michelin Stars still given by the tyre company, or has it been spun off into its own thing?
For the same reason that the World Record Holders are decided by a brewery. They just started doing it, and people wanted to be on their list.
That was almost certainly to help settle bar arguments before they became bar fights.
You’re half right! It was actually to prevent golf course fights.
The michelin thing was to get people to drive around more, driving up tourism and tyre use