US Jewish legal group accuses Guinness records of consumer fraud for hiding ban on Israel

Louis D. Brandeis Center says company’s claim of documenting world records ‘materially misrepresents’ reality as entries from Israel, Palestinian territories blocked for 2 years

A US Jewish legal advocacy group accused Guinness World Records Limited (GWR) of deceiving consumers by blocking submissions from Israel, in a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission on Thursday.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law accused Guinness of deceiving consumers by claiming that its world records are “for everyone, everywhere,” without disclosing that it had blocked applications from Israel, making the claim misleading.

Guinness, which is based in the UK, said earlier this month that it had blocked submissions from Israel and the Palestinian territories since November 2023, weeks after Hamas’s October 2023 invasion of Israel, due to the “sensitive” situation amid the war in Gaza.

“For more than two years, GWR has excluded entries from Israel without informing American consumers that it has ceased publishing ‘world’ records and instead publishes records that only represent a portion of the world. This materially misrepresents the core claim of the product that Guinness ‘World’ Records advertises and sells in the US,” the letter to the Federal Trade Commission read.

“GWR may publish whatever ‘records’ it wishes. But under US law, GWR may not mislead American consumers by hiding that its ‘world’ records actually consist of the greatest achievements only in the non-Israeli part of the world,” the letter said, citing Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, which bans “deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.”

The Brandeis Center noted that Guinness, which is world-renowned for its annual book and website documenting record-breaking facts and achievements, still accepts submissions from countries with poor human rights records, such as North Korea, Syria, and Iran.

“Guinness has a right to exclude Israeli records and publish anything they want, but they don’t have a right to deceive their readership and customer base by claiming that [they are] publishing ‘world records,’” said Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center. “Any so-called ‘world record’ excluding such talented challengers must, at a minimum, carry an asterisk to disclose that it is not truly a record for the entire world. Without any asterisks on their so-called ‘world records,’ GWR has falsely presented its findings.”

The letter to the leaders of the Federal Trade Commission asked the federal agency to halt Guinness’s “deceptive business practice,” prevent Guinness from continuing to deceive American consumers, and require Guinness to compensate consumers who were misled.

Israel’s Channel 12 first reported this month that the “Matnat Chaim” charity, which helps people make voluntary kidney donations, had approached Guinness World Records to discuss an event it was planning to bring together 2,000 donors in one place in Jerusalem, but was informed by the UK body that it was no longer accepting submissions from Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

A spokesperson for Guinness later told The Times of Israel that the only exception to the rule would be records broken in cooperation with a UN humanitarian aid relief agency, but did not respond to a request for clarification as to why this, and not other records, would be acceptable.

Guinness reviews its policy about Israel monthly, the spokesperson said, adding that the company “hope[s] to be in a position to receive new enquiries soon.”

The Guinness website currently lists dozens of records set in Israel. Among these are the world’s heaviest strawberry (322 grams/11.35 ounces), largest mezuzah (1.15 square meters), longest wheelchair tennis match (4 hours 25 minutes-), and fastest time to type the first 100 pi decimal places (11.56 seconds).

Jews have also set records for the largest Lego menorahs, the longest challah, and the most dreidels spinning at a time.

Records set by Palestinians include the largest qatayef pastry (104.75 kg/230 pounds), the most people dribbling a soccer ball simultaneously (2,068), and the longest chain of scarves/neckerchiefs (6,552 meters/21,498 feet).