Guinness World Records. Built to keep you drinking.
Guinness World Records has sold 150 million copies, and brands pay up to half a million pounds to be in it. It was created not to celebrate people but to keep them drinking.
THE GIST ON GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS: "The Ultimate Pub Trick"
Where did the book come from?
In 1951 the managing director of Guinness, Sir Hugh Beaver, was out shooting and missed his target. An argument broke out: what is the fastest game bird in Europe? Nobody knew.
He realised arguments like that were happening in every pub in Britain. What if Guinness had the answer?
How big did it get?
He commissioned a book with every record and every argument ending fact, and gave it away to pubs. The first edition sold out by Christmas.
Then it went international: 150 million copies in 40 languages.
Who decides what is true?
We never questioned the format. We trust things that look like they should be trusted, and Guinness World Records just appointed themselves.
Credit rating agencies are paid by the banks they rate. Academic rankings were invented by a newspaper. All treated as truth, and we don't ask who built the thing we trust.
Brands now pay up to half a million pounds for a record made for them. Reebok, Audi, Dwayne Johnson, all paying a brewery for legitimacy. So next time you trust something, ask who built it and what they were selling.
Is a paid-for world record a real record?
Your take. One tap, then see how everyone else voted.
Quick answers
Why was Guinness World Records created?
After an argument over the fastest game bird in Europe, Sir Hugh Beaver thought a book of answers could settle pub arguments.
How many copies has it sold?
150 million, in 40 languages.
What do brands pay?
Up to half a million pounds for a record made for them.
See you on the next one.
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