Record title: Largest cardboard box
Date: September 2009
Brand: Ion Television
Location: New York City, USA
Business Challenge
Ion Television is a national US entertainment station reaching 94 million American homes and watched by US adults aged 25 to 55.
The channel is home to top entertainment shows like Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer and NCIS.
In September 2009, Ion Television was launching its first original production, the entertainment drama Durham County.
For the launch of this new primetime series Ion Television wanted to create maximum buzz and attention.
Guinness World Records Solution
Ion Television identified Guinness World Records as having the credibility and attention grabbing potential to engage the media, raise awareness and get people tuning in.
Guinness World Records used the background to Durham County as its inspiration – Durham County follows a police detective moving back to his hometown to find his neighbourhood rife with secrets – and as the show was moving to its new home on Ion Television a record attempt for the world’s Largest cardboard ‘moving-in’ box was agreed.
For maximum publicity, the box was assembled in Times Square and the finished article was so large that it could contain the entire cast and literally move Durham County on to the channel.
Adjudicators confirmed that the final box measured 42ft x 16ft x 8ft and were able to announce that Ion Television had set a new Guinness World Records title.
Record Breaking Results
For an equivalent advertising spend of $80,000, Ion Television secured press coverage across national and international media. This included Reuters, AOL and The Washington Post, with one TV news channel calling the stunt “one of the wildest things in Times Square history”.
The record-breaking event delivered more than 236 million visitors to the Ion Television website.
Commenting on the event, Kevin Stec, affiliate marketing manager at Ion Television, said: “Having an adjudicator on site gives real clout, it shows the significance [of the event] and provides excellent opportunity for press shots”
