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In 1955, a new non-fiction book was released, editions of which would appear on bestseller lists for decades to come. The Guinness Book of Records, as it was then called, was stuffed with feats and facts from the human and natural worlds. The highest mountain on Earth was in there. So was the world’s tallest man (the American Robert Wadlow, whose 8ft 11ins remains unsurpassed). John R Cobb was featured for holding the world land speed record (403.135mph, set in 1947), as well as a British Friesian cow with the greatest lifetime milk yield and the smallest pub in the world.
Within a year of publication, 187,000 copies had been shifted. Less than a decade later, this number had soared to a million. It became a publishing phenomenon, its popularity enduring to the extent that the 2023 edition took the number one spot in the UK Christmas bestseller chart, while the 2024 edition made it to number two.
Those who grew up between the 1970s and 1990s may remember the television spin-off, Record Breakers, a BBC children’s show that ran for 276 episodes over 30 series. When it launched in 1972, presenter Roy Castle was joined in front of the camera by the book’s founders, Ross and Norris McWhirter: former athletes and twin brothers fond of dressing identically in blazers and flannels.
So how did this cosy format – a book of weird and wonderful facts with an accompanying popular children’s TV show – become embroiled recently in accusations of “whitewashing repressive regimes”? Last month, The Times reported on “the company’s sideline of accepting money to help authoritarian governments put out positive messages about their record-breaking achievements”. It highlighted that Guinness World Records (GWR) had recently certified 10 new records for Saudi Arabia, and that the country had swiftly increased its number of records since 2019. The country’s 2023 records included “largest intellectual property lesson” and “smallest floating golf green”.
Other bizarre records for the state, documented on the GWR website, include “most people in an online video relay holding a sign” and “largest packaged product number”. Ever wondered where the largest online video chain of people passing and using a blood pressure monitor occurred? That was in Saudi Arabia too, in 2022. Curious about the site of the largest multi-effect distillation water desalination plant (by capacity)? This record was achieved in Saudi Arabia in 2023.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also been doing very well, if your yardstick is, say, how many people have simultaneously taken part in a gamified cybersecurity training session (a record achieved in Abu Dhabi last year) or how many signatures have appeared on a scroll (in 2018, this record was landed by Abu Dhabi Police). The UAE’s 526 records were reportedly recorded after the country spent millions on paid-for GWR consultations.
Those concerned about its fossil fuel industry and air pollution may raise an eyebrow at its 2022 achievement of the record for longest continuous cycle path. And when it comes to social harmony and inclusivity, it can point to its record for most nationalities reciting a poem in 2021.
At best, some of these records may seem either bonkers or boring. But for the states where they’re set, are they helping achieve something beyond quirky entries on the GWR website?
According to Amnesty International, “the reality for people living in Saudi Arabia is one where their basic human rights are ignored, their freedoms are restricted and punishment is severe.” In an article this month entitled “Ten ways that Saudi Arabia violates human rights,” the charity warned that, among other things, executions are on the increase, women are widely discriminated against and people are subjected to unfair trials and torture during detention.
Human Rights Watch has warned that the UAE “invests in a strategy to paint the country as progressive, tolerant and rights-respecting while carrying out its zero-tolerance policy toward dissent”.
Which is where the accusations of image-laundering come in. Matthew Hedges, a British academic falsely accused of spying for the UK government and imprisoned and tortured in the UAE in 2018, warns that awarding a string of world records to these countries amounts to “cultural legitimation”.
“This is another example of that soft power influence that’s coming through in Western societies,” he says, “where autocratic states are using their significant financial clout to try to leverage political legitimacy. It is dangerous and wrong on multiple levels.
“You can understand that [GWR’s] business model is changing, but when you provide this outlet for autocrats to celebrate their achievements … it harms the reputation and integrity of the entire unit.”
GWR has made no secret of its changing business model. In 2015 Sam Fay, then senior vice president of global brand strategy at GWR, explained to Marketing Week that to adapt to the challenges facing the publishing industry, such as declining book sales, GWR needed to “maximise the potential of new revenue streams and promote the business as ‘more than just a book’.” As part of this, it has diversified and now has a commercial team that creates bespoke campaigns and live events for brands that want to enhance their marketing or PR through record-breaking.
In a 2015 Vox article about this new strategy, GWR was described as “essentially a native advertising firm now, seamlessly mingling content with marketing”.
Four years later, its ethics were being questioned by human rights organisations after comedian John Oliver accused it of helping to support an authoritarian regime in Turkmenistan. The country had achieved 19 world records, including “most fountain pools in a public place” and “largest roof in the shape of a star”.
In fact, politics is baked into the GWR’s origin story. In 1975, Ross McWhirter was shot dead by the Provisional IRA after offering a reward of £50,000 for information leading to the arrest of IRA bombers. Ross had also helped coordinate a private prosecution against the anti-Apartheid activist Peter Hain. After his death, Norris became the voice of the National Association for Freedom, which campaigned against trade union power, gay rights and sanctions on Apartheid-era South Africa. It also argued in favour of the end of the NHS and state education. None of which was particularly in keeping with the wholesome, child-friendly image of GWR.
It has been through the hands of various owners in the course of its 70-year existence. Most recently, in 2008, it was sold to the Jim Pattison Group, a Canadian conglomerate and parent company of Ripley Entertainment. It launched its consultancy services in 2009, offering clients help with integrating “key messages and brand values to deliver a record campaign that engages your audience with authenticity”.
Those who pay for consultancy services will have their application forms completed for them and are offered advice to help achieve a record. Or, as GWR puts it, they will “maximise achievement of your desired outcomes with a bespoke record-based solution aligned with your objectives”.
This consultation service reportedly now makes more money than GWR’s publishing arm, with its 2022 accounts showing it made £12.37 million from consulting and £12.32 million from publishing that year. It has said that of the 223 records listing Saudi Arabia as the location, 135 arose from paid-for consultations.
Hedges would like to see the business apply more caution when deciding who to work with. “You have to understand that [by achieving Guinness world records, these countries] can show how good they are, when it’s absolutely not the case. It normalises their behaviour. GWR should certainly review their policies and the way they engage with states.”
GWR says it believes record-breaking should be for everyone “whoever you are, whatever your background, wherever you’re from in the world” and that it will always embrace the chance to find new audiences.
“This inclusive approach comes with risks, so we take our lead from the UK and US governments on where we are able to do business,” says a spokesman. “If there are sanctions in place, we of course would stop operating within a country, as we did with Russia in February 2022. We would also decline to licence our brand if we felt record-breaking was being used in a polarising or negative way.
“The challenge we face is that one record-breaking achievement can simultaneously be seen as a symbol of progress or national pride to one audience, and a superficial PR exercise to another. We understand these conflicting viewpoints, it’s up to us to grow GWR so that we can continue to celebrate cultures and achievements from all over the world, but with greater checks and balances which allow us to better scrutinise our business.”
In the meantime, Hedges worries that the UAE can “laud” their records and “distract people from concerns about their repressive activities.” These activities are widely known about, he says. But the danger is that in celebrating quirky, environmental or socially progressive-looking records, the country may be succeeding in what Hedges calls changing the narrative: “Diverting it from topics that should be front and centre.”