Ordinarily, Guinness World Records adjudicator Michael Empric makes a presentation recognizing some sort of notable or outlandish achievement and then hands the microphone to the man or woman of the hour.
Empric's attempt at passing the mic was rebuffed during a recent visit to Arkansas to recognize Ron Sherman for producing the most TV commercials in a career.
"I'm mic'd. The guy who's done 3,500 commercials is mic'd," Sherman said, drawing laughs from the 75 or so who gathered at his studios to celebrate the achievement.
Sherman is officially in the Guinness books as a record-holder with 3,503 commercials. While it stands as the career record, those are only the commercials produced by Sherman in the past 13 months.
Since he launched his advertising shop 30 years ago Sherman says he has produced "at least" 70,000 commercials, largely for clients who specialize in home-improvement products. Proving that number was too difficult -- Guinness has strict standards for confirming records -- so the staff at Ron Sherman Advertising decided to document what they could over a little more than a year.
Frustrated that few media outlets paid attention to a news release claiming that the agency produced 6,524 commercials in 2014, Sherman came up with the idea of formally certifying his efforts through Guinness World Records to back up the claim that no other company produces more commercials.
These aren't the sort of sleek, stylish spots you'd expect to come from a Mad Men style agency. Sherman and his staff freely admit as much.
"This is a different model," said Dianna Stockdale, a marketing manager for Ron Sherman Advertising and the person largely tasked with chronicling the commercials needed for Guinness World Record certification. "These aren't those beautiful Coca-Cola ads you might see running 30 years later."
Sherman has excelled in producing spots for clients like Englert LeafGuard, Window Works, Window Depot and Bath Planet. He founded the company while working in Little Rock as a TV weatherman and the workload got so heavy he decided to turn his attention to it full-time.
Demand for the advertisements grew beyond the Arkansas borders. He's done work outside the U.S. and his commercials ran in about 100 different markets last year, including Toronto.
Eventually, Sherman had done enough commercials that he was convinced nobody had done more.
Proving it wasn't easy.
Ron Sherman Advertising first sent 350 commercials to Guinness. The organization needed to see more proof in order for Sherman's company to join approximately 40,000 other record-holders.
Stockdale was tasked with collecting video files for more than 3,500 commercials filmed from February 2015 until March 2016. She needed affidavits from stations proving that each commercial aired. Guinness also needed to know which client each commercial was produced for and wanted to see invoices for each.
In total, Stockdale estimates the company spent around $40,000 and about 350 hours -- split between production and administration -- on the certification process. Sherman said he would have spent "double" whatever it cost to have his name in the record books.
Guinness employees conducted spot checks with stations and customers as follow-up research. A hard drive with the information was mailed to England, which then forwarded the collection to its New York offices.
Ultimately, Guinness created a new category for most commercials produced. A Swedish TV personality holds the record for appearing in the most commercials.
"We thrive on evidence," Empric said. "We never want something to just be in the ballpark. We go through step-by-step to make sure we have accurate numbers. I've encouraged them to continue keeping good records. We're always willing to expand the existing record moving forward. Ron seems like a good candidate to do that."
Sherman smiled when he heard Empric's suggestion that his company should work to expand the record. Then, for the second time during his Guinness World Record day, Sherman rebuffed Empric.
"I just can't bring it up to them right now," Sherman said of his staff. "They would kill me."
If you have a tip, call Chris Bahn at (479) 365-2972 or email him at
cbahn@nwaonline.com
SundayMonday Business on 05/08/2016