Almost forty thousand people in Mexico pucker up for world kissing record
Last updated 2/17/2009 6:30:18 PM
world kissing record
Mexico is claiming the world kissing record after nearly 40,000 people puckered up for a mass Valentine's Day smooch.
It's a major love-in by anyone's standards - and there was a point to it too, organised by tourist chiefs in protest at drug violence in the country, which claimed more than 6,000 lives last year.
Some 39,897 people packed Mexico City for the attempt and it dwarfs the previous record, putting the Brits to shame. The UK previously held the title after 32,648 people locked lips in Weston-super-Mare.
It seems that some of those who witnessed the record-breaker in Mexico may have been a little coy. "There are 42,225 people on site, but unfortunately you did not all participate in the record," said Carlos Martinez, who verified the event for Guinness World Records.
And as well as being a stand against drug violence, organisers said the event sent a defiant message to a local mayor who tried to ban kissing in the public square.