An official Guinness World Records title attempt can be a fun and unusual way to create a headline-grabbing experience at conferences, festivals, teambuilding events, product launches, and more. When organizing an attempt, planners have two choices. They can opt for a free record application, which does not require an adjudicator at the event. Instead, they submit evidence to Guinness World Records after the attempt and receive a decision about verification within four to six weeks. Alternately, organizers can opt use the company’s premium services that provide an adjudicator at the event and can include assistance with marketing, social media, project management, and more.
Here’s a look at 12 events that have staged Guinness World Records stunts.
Visit Huntington Beach and the Epic Big Board Ride broke the world record for the most people riding a surfboard after cramming 66 people onto an 11- by 42-foot board as part of the city’s “100 years of surfing” celebration. The event took place on June 20, which was also International Surfing Day. The participants balanced for 13 seconds, three seconds longer than required to break the record. Following the event, Guinness World Records also confirmed the board set a new record for the largest surfboard.
Photo: Courtesy Guinness World Records
At the World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon, on July 10, more than 600 people lounged in 160 beds to set a world record for the most people eating breakfast in bed. The meal included breakfast burritos and fruit from Elephants Catering, yogurt parfaits provided by Kind Bars, and doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnuts. Organizers encouraged guests to dress in pajamas, and afterward they donated the beds to local organizations that serve the needy. The record attempt is still being reviewed by Guinness World Records.
Photo: Courtesy World Domination Summit
Papa John’s celebrated the company’s opening of its 300th store in the United Kingdom on June 26 with a record-setting stunt in London. The 338 participants broke the record for the most people tossing pizza dough at one time.
Photo: Courtesy Business Wire
An umbrella mosaic set a world record for the National Federation of the Blind. The organization staged the event at its annual conference in Orlando July 8. The event included 2,480 people simultaneously raising umbrellas to create the image of the organization’s logo and tagline, “Live the life you want.”
Photo: Courtesy National Federation of the Blind
A giant 16-story bracket designed and built by Sports Graphics earned the world record for largest sports bracket. The bracket was mounted on the JW Marriott Indianapolis downtown during the N.C.A.A. Men’s Basketball Tournament in March and April of this year. The bracket was updated every Monday with tournament results.
Photo: Courtesy Guinness World Records
During Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities July 9 in Cincinnati, the league and the Cincinnati Reds created the largest game of catch. The record was part of the league’s Play Ball initiative and consisted of 529 pairs of people throwing baseballs and softballs.
Photo: Courtesy Guinness World Records
As part of its “HappiMess” marketing campaign, Delta Faucet set a world record for the most people showering at one time June 27 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The event took place during the Indiana Warrior Dash with 331 people simultaneously cleaning up using an outdoor showering station equipped with 164 Delta showerheads.
Photo: Steve C. Mitchell
Swedish DJ duo Dada Life orchestrated a record for "largest gathering of people dressed as fruits" at its festival, the Voyage, July 18 in San Bernardino, California. More than 620 people dressed as bananas as part of the stunt created in partnership with Fair Trade USA.
Photo: Courtesy Guinness World Records
At Comic-Con International in San Diego in 2014, FXX Networks achieved the most contributions to a painting-by-numbers, with 2,263 people helping to create a mural representing the animated series The Simpsons. The canvas held 5,565 paintable squares.
Photo: Courtesy Guinness World Records
At its 2014 annual convention in Hawaii, La Quinta Inn & Suites set three Guinness World Records in 90 minutes as a teambuilding experience. Within 90 minutes, company employees set the records for largest towel mosaic—creating an American flag measuring more than 26,000 square feet—as well as the longest human towel chain and longest high-five chain, with more than 1,100 participants in each. All three records have since been broken.
Photo: Courtesy La Quinta Inn & Suites
To celebrate the launch of Orange Julius at all Dairy Queen locations in Canada, the company enlisted fruit sculptor Shawn Feeney of Invisible Underground to create a 10-foot-tall fruit tree that was certified as the world’s largest fruit sculpture. The tree consisted of 1,200 pieces of pineapple, orange, strawberry, peach, and mango. At the event, which took place in August 2013 in Calgary, the company also distributed free Orange Julius smoothies in exchange for donations to Children’s Miracle Network and the Canadian Red Cross.
Photo: Courtesy Invisible Underground
P.G.A. National Resort & Spa set a record for the largest ice cream dessert during the resort’s Ice Cream Festival Weekend in 2013. The sundae measured more than 1,200 feet long and included 1,748 pounds of bananas, 840 pounds of whipped cream, and 462 pounds of sprinkles. The festival also included an ice cream pairing dinner, a '50s-style sock hop, a golf cart drive-in movie, and a celebrity ice cream eating contest. The record was broken in 2014 by Solivita retirement community in Poinciana, Florida.
Photo: Courtesy P.G.A. National Resort & Spa
