Lol, I gotta admit that there’s something adorable about that approach to capitalism. Like they are actually adding some value in their attempt to attract sales (both this and the Michelin star system), unlike these days where it’s more of a race to the bottom and someone doing something shitty to their product is an excuse for their competition (or “competition”) to do the same rather than a chance to capitalize on having a product without that shitty aspect (or both, brag about being better while they develop the version that isn’t better and then never mention it again).
I’ve only been to one Michelin star restaurant, but it was easily one of the best meals I’ve ever had and I only ever knew about it because I decided I wanted to see if there was anything to the fuss about those stars. Though ymmv as a friend of mine who has been to a lot more of them says they can be hit or miss; better than average on average but can still have bad days.
It is my understanding that the Guinness Book Of World Records was started because of a discussion/argument in a pub that had no resolution, a couple of blimey blokes fussing about what’s the longest bridge in the world or something, so publishing a book of world records would allow that kind of thing to be settled. It then became a marketing gimmick; people start mentioning Guinness in contexts they never would otherwise. The book itself has been a sales phenomenon, and then they started selling the records themselves.
So…Guinness sells the service of awarding a world record, sometimes at exorbitant prices, and often to brutal dictators. The likes of North Korea, Qatar etc. are fond of these. Kim Sick Fuck will order 90,000 people to dance at gunpoint and Guinness will send a white chick in a stuffy blue skirt suit with a framed certificate, for tens of thousands of euro, to certify it as World’s Largest Interpretive Dance.
I wonder if they make more money doing that or selling Bud Dark?
Edit to add, off the top of my head I can think of the Guinness World Record book being mentioned offhand in media as diverse as Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, House and The Abyss, among others.
Lol, I gotta admit that there’s something adorable about that approach to capitalism. Like they are actually adding some value in their attempt to attract sales (both this and the Michelin star system), unlike these days where it’s more of a race to the bottom and someone doing something shitty to their product is an excuse for their competition (or “competition”) to do the same rather than a chance to capitalize on having a product without that shitty aspect (or both, brag about being better while they develop the version that isn’t better and then never mention it again).
I’ve only been to one Michelin star restaurant, but it was easily one of the best meals I’ve ever had and I only ever knew about it because I decided I wanted to see if there was anything to the fuss about those stars. Though ymmv as a friend of mine who has been to a lot more of them says they can be hit or miss; better than average on average but can still have bad days.
It is my understanding that the Guinness Book Of World Records was started because of a discussion/argument in a pub that had no resolution, a couple of blimey blokes fussing about what’s the longest bridge in the world or something, so publishing a book of world records would allow that kind of thing to be settled. It then became a marketing gimmick; people start mentioning Guinness in contexts they never would otherwise. The book itself has been a sales phenomenon, and then they started selling the records themselves.
So…Guinness sells the service of awarding a world record, sometimes at exorbitant prices, and often to brutal dictators. The likes of North Korea, Qatar etc. are fond of these. Kim Sick Fuck will order 90,000 people to dance at gunpoint and Guinness will send a white chick in a stuffy blue skirt suit with a framed certificate, for tens of thousands of euro, to certify it as World’s Largest Interpretive Dance.
I wonder if they make more money doing that or selling Bud Dark?
Edit to add, off the top of my head I can think of the Guinness World Record book being mentioned offhand in media as diverse as Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, House and The Abyss, among others.