The Surprising Business Model Behind Guinness World Records

By Bronson Arcuri,

Tsering Bista

Published September 18, 2020 at 8:00 AM EDT

The people behind the Guinness World Records used to make money by, well, selling books. But with the rise of the Internet came a decline in book sales, and so they had to create a new business model — selling publicity.

This is the story of how Guinness (yeah, like the brewery) got into the business of record-breaking, and how one Planet Money intern broke a world record involving the president of Georgia, the former Soviet republic.

Listen to the original Planet Money podcast episode here! And while you're at it, follow us on TikTok, and subscribe to our video series and podcast.

Bronson Arcuri

Bronson Arcuri is a video producer at NPR, where he directs the "Planet Money Shorts" video series and helps out with Tiny Desk Concerts from time to time. He also produced "Elise Tries" and "Ron's Office Hours" along with the "Junior Bugler" series, which he still insists was "pretty good for what it was."

See stories by Bronson Arcuri

Tsering Bista

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

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