• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, December 23, 2019

Just in the time for the holidays, Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi broke the Guinness World Records title over the weekend for “Most People Unboxing Simultaneously.”

Over the course of an hour, 703 participants simultaneously unwrapped hundreds of boxes filled with Xiaomi gadgets including cameras, scooters, power banks and more.

The event, held outside the Oculus in lower Manhattan, was designed to promote the company’s new Mi Box S android set-top box. A social campaign generated awareness of the event.

The previous record was held by Mercado Libre (an Argentina-based eBay-like company) for an event staged in Mexico City in September.

Simultaneous events of one kind or another have become a thing over the past few years. And not just involving people, either. There’s a Guinness record for simultaneous dancing robots.

Companies have co-opted the phenomenon into experiential marketing plans quite nicely. Something tells me the new unboxing record isn’t going to last very long.