The Guinness World Records is considered to be the effective authority when it comes to the requirements for setting world records and deciding who should get those records. Because of its popularity in the last few years, it has become the main international organization to catalog and verify an overwhelming number of world records.
How are the world records verified?
Guinness World Records has official adjudicators that will assess each record to determine whether or not it was successful. It is not necessary for participants to have the official adjudicator present while attempting the record but they must provide documented proof to the organization to have their record evaluated and approved. For a fee, Guinness World Records will also send an adjudicator to the location to provide immediate verification of the record. Because of the nature of certain records, it is often difficult to determine what would constitute a record. However, for the records that it does verify, the final authority to determine the success of any record attempt will remain with the official adjudicators.
Are the world records just a gimmick?
In July, 2013, 600 people dressed in white and red plastic ponchos turned up at the Turning Stone Resort outside Syracuse in N.Y. to attempt a record. All the participants had to do was to stand still for 5 minutes. The result was a record for 56-76 foot diamond made with human pixels. It was nothing but a marketing gimmick. Turning Stone purchased a Silver Package from Guinness World Records for $10,500. A consultant from the company helped come up with the concept and provided them a licensing agreement for using the Guinness Trademark.
According to an article published in Bloomberg Businessweek, Guinness sells these corporate packages to companies throughout America. Consulting prices depend on the services required. For a basic idea and adjudication the fee is $7,500 while multiple record breaking live events require companies to shell out as much as $20,000. Over 160 companies have worked with Guinness on such arrangements since 2012.
Guinness World Records isn’t the only authority for records, however. RecordSetter is another organization operating on the same premise but it has a slightly more accommodating policy. In India, breaking records is extremely popular and there are two local authorization organizations in the country – World Records India and the Limca Book of Records.
Do you have to be rich to be featured in the Guinness World Records?
According to the official rules of the Guinness World Records, anyone from any part of the world can apply to break a record. There is no fee for application or for the assessment process. However, individuals attempting to break a record on their own will definitely not receive the kind of services and assistance that paying companies get from the Guinness World Records.
So what do you think? We would love to hear from you if you have set a record, or even attempted to. Drop us a note with your story in the comments below.
Image Credits: Lucian Milasan/BigStock.com
