Saudi Arabia has won Guinness World Records for boring achievements such as having the “largest dental hospital” after paying a company in a new alleged “whitewashing” ploy.
This week, GWR announced 10 new awards for the country, a decision that has drawn criticism from human rights groups.
While the records are often interesting and unique, such as the longest beard on a living woman or the number of consecutive visits to Disneyland, Saudi Arabia’s accomplishments pale in comparison.
Their awards include “Largest Covered Reservoir for Storing Drinking Water,” “Largest Multiple Effect Distillation Desalination Unit,” and “Largest Dental Hospital.”
Saudi Arabia is considered a “repressive” state by the human rights movement, and the United Nations recently expressed concern over the impending execution of Abdullah al-Deraj, who was a child at the time of the alleged crime.
An analysis by The Times found that the Middle Eastern country is experiencing a rapid increase in the amount of records it records compared to five years ago.
Before 2019, there were 54 awards, but since this period this number has jumped to 160. Last year alone, we set 56 niche records, including “Largest Intellectual Property Lesson.”
Out of 223 awards, GWR lists Saudi Arabia as the location of the attempt. 88 were the result of standard applications or investigations, and 135 were the result of paid consultations.
Human rights groups alleged that GWR was helping the country hide its reputation.
Zaki Saraf is a death penalty investigator at Repriv, a nonprofit organization that “fights on behalf of victims of extreme human rights violations.”
He called the country an “extremely repressive state” and told the outlet: “Guinness World Records should not help tarnish Saudi Arabia’s reputation and whitewash what is happening in Saudi Arabia.”
Saraf added that Saudi Arabia is trying to make a better impression through a series of PR moves, including the acquisition of Newcastle United in 2021.
Mike Ashley was signed in a £305m deal three years ago and approved by the Premier League.
Newcastle United’s owners, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, are reportedly planning to make a £768m offer for AS Roma.
James Lynch, co-director of human rights group Fair Square and a former British diplomat based in Qatar, said GWR should announce which records related to the payments.
He also told the paper: “Guinness is a major supporter of Mohammed bin Salman’s economic and investment activities, and by supporting him we are also supporting his broader repression plans.” ” he said.
Guinness World Records told MailOnline: No matter who you are, what your background is, or where you come from in the world, we always embrace the opportunity to introduce her GWR to new audiences around the world.
“This comprehensive approach comes with risks, so we are taking leadership from the UK and US governments on where we can do business.
“If sanctions are imposed, we will naturally suspend our operations in the country, as we did against Russia in February 2022.
“We also intend to refuse to license our brand if we feel Record Breaker is being used in a polarizing or negative way, and this is something we are mindful of in all applications. That is what we are doing.”
“GWR is a business, and like many Western companies, brands, sporting events, etc., we have seen a sharp increase in interest in our work as Saudi society begins to open up.
“The number of fans on our social media channels has increased to thousands and we are also starting to see an increase in applications from the general public, to whom we offer our services for free, but this is likely due to private companies and This is likely driven by many of the records broken by public sector companies.”
“Events like the Saudi Games gave the Saudi public the opportunity to experience record-breaking first-hand for the first time.”