Guinness World Records, Essay Example

The Guinness World Records which is also referred to as the Guinness Book of Records was initiated between 1955 and 1998 (Watson, 76–81). The previous edition of the Guinness Book of Records which was based in the United States was the Guinness Book of World Records. The Guinness World Records implies to a reference whose publication is updated on annual basis considering a list of amazing global records of extreme occurrences in the natural world as well as extreme human achievements and wonders. The book contains a record of the entire world and this makes it to be the best-selling book at any one time. Its demand also makes it prone to theft and it is therefore commonly stolen from the public libraries across the US. The book is also updated regularly and by 2006 it had been published for 62 years (Watson, 76–81). The print copy of the book is not able to serve the interests of the people effectively and therefore television series of the book have been produced in international franchise. The franchise has become so popular to the extent that the Guinness world records  has turned to be the international authority in cataloguing as well as verification of a large number of global records. Official adjudicators dealing with record have been recruited in the organization to perform verification of authenticity of the records that break up as well as their settings.

With regard to majority of the records, the effective authority is a reserve of the Guinness world records concerning the precise requirements for the records. The organization is also responsible for the supply of adjudicators for determining the events as well as the veracity of the records. The list of the records that is covered in Guinness world records is not static since additions as well as removals of some records occur several times due to varied reasons. The members of the public are free to bring in their applications for records submission. The records from the public may enhance the already available information or may lead to substantial achievements leading to the incorporation of new records in the Guinness world records. The organization is also responsible for the provision of corporate services to other firms which are intended at improving their power in breaking new records that can potentially deliver concrete success in the organization.

The Guinness world record observes strict ethical issues as well as safety concerns. This is achieved through specifications of the type of information that should be accepted based on ethical standards. Information concerning harming animals and killing are not acceptable in the Guinness world records. Some of the information that had at one time been recorded in the Guinness world records is also removed based on ethical merits as well as a safety concern. The well-being of the record breakers is also taken in to consideration. At one time for example, a record of the heaviest fish was included in the Guinness world records and prompted some of the fish keepers to overfeed their fish beyond the limits of their health. This was a potential cause for removal of the record from the Guinness world records. Records on drinking as well as eating were removed in the Human Achievement section in 1991 due to the harm caused by competitors as well as the potential exposure of the publisher to issues of litigation. The changes entailed dropping of records on drinking of beer, wine as well as liquor in addition to the records of consumption of unlikely objects such as trees as well as bicycles. In addition, records involving swallowing of swords as well as rally driving in the public roads were dropped from the Guinness world records because the performance of the record holders was perceived as going beyond the tolerance levels in human safety.

In the recent editions of the Guinness world records, a series of competitions have been published. The range of competitions include simple competitions such as weightlifting in Olympics to more complex ones involving the longest distance that a competitor can toss an egg and the consumption of the highest number of hot dogs in a set time limit. However, as indicated earlier consumption of alcohol as well as eating any items have been dropped from the Guinness world records due to potential litigations that are associated with such activities. Apart from the records on competitors, the Guinness world records also covers records of amazing facts such as shortest river, which is the Roe River, the longest drama in America, the most successful salesperson in the world, Joe Girard, the heaviest tumour on record, and the most poisonous plant in the world just mentioning a few examples. Majority of the records in the Guinness world records highlight people who achieved important things at very early ages.

In every edition of the Guinness world records, the largest set of the records has been selected from the database with the criteria that is applicable during the process of selection changing with time and new record being added while other records are dropped from the Guinness world records. In 1995, Norris McWhirter was ousted from the role of consultancy which was subsequently followed by the decision of sale of Guinness World Records brand by Diageo Plc. These dramatic changes caused a shift in the Guinness World Records from text oriented book to a book composed of illustrated reference. Most of the records in the world therefore are never again recorded in the Guinness World Records as well as the website. Their determination is based on written application for breaking records. There is a mandatory waiting time of 4 to 6 weeks so that a reply can be given and for the people who are not willing to wait for this time, an application fee of 450$ or £300 is payable to facilitate for fast tracking (Watson, 76–81).

The Guinness World Records has become a copyright book with the highest rate of sale across the globe thus any entry in the pages is a source of earning. Several series in televisions as well as spin-off books based on the Guinness World Records are produced due to the rising demand of the Guinness World Records. The 9^th day of November has been set aside to represent the international Guinness World Records Day that serves as an encouragement of breaking the global records. This has encouraged a large number of people to participate leading to the creation of over 2200 records within a period of 12 months in 2006.

Works cited

Watson, Bruce. “World’s Unlikeliest Bestseller”. Smithsonian: 76–81, 2005.