Music

Yoko Ono arranged a giant human peace sign for John Lennon's 75th birthday

by Jeremy Mersereau

By now, every conceivable action and achievement has its own Guinness World Record holder.

Think you’ve got a world record number of toothpaste tubes? You’ll have to beat Val Kolpakov’s of Georgia‘s 2037-tube strong collection. Think your dog might have the world’s longest eyelashes? I hope your mutt’s luscious lashes are at least 17 cm, because that’s what it’s going to take to beat Ranmaru, an Australian Labradoodle from Japan.

You get the idea: achieving your own Guinness World Record is no longer as easy as getting drunk and measuring your dog’s eyelashes, as Yoko Ono and some 2,000 people discovered this week.

To honour her late husband John Lennon, who would have turned 75 on Friday, Ono organized an attempt to break the world record for the largest human peace sign in New York. More than 2,000 people turned out to help, from Beatlemaniacs young and old to interested passersby. The attempt took place on the East Meadow of Central Park, but sadly wasn’t large enough to take the coveted human peace sign world record, which currently stands at 5,814 individuals and was set at the Ithaca Festival in 2009. Better luck next time, peace enthusiasts!

In the downtime before the next attempt, everyone examine their dogs’ eyelashes, we might have a shot at the record. Imagine there’s no Ranmaru / it’s easy if you try.

[h/t CBC]