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Thursday, December 18, 2025
US Jewish legal group accuses Guinness records of consumer fraud for not revealing it blocked Israel
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A US Jewish legal advocacy group accuses Guinness World Records Limited (GWR) of deceiving consumers by blocking submissions from Israel, in a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law says Guinness is 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.
“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 says.
“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 says, citing Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, which bans “deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.”
The Brandeis Center notes that Guinness 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 it is 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 asks 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.
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