The Guinness World Record For Tallest M&M's Stack Is Shorter Than You Might Think
That's right. A new champion has emerged to lay one M&M upon another. That person is Brendan Kelbie, a 22-year-old from Australia. He achieved a new Guinness World Record with his stack of M&Ms, beating out the previous joint record, set by the UK's Will Cutbill and Italy's Rocco Mercurio of Italy, both of whom created a stack of five M&Ms (via ABC 4).
In 2020, Kelbie tied with the then-record holder Silvio Sabba, who was the champion of the M&Ms stack with just four M&Ms. So, how many did Kelbie stack together this time? It was just one additional M&M added to the previous record for a grand total of six of the miniature Mars Inc. candies, which were initially released in 1941. To qualify, the stack has to stand freely for 10 seconds. Also, only the most basic M&M's are allowed, thereby ensuring a level playing field.
Kelbie seems addicted to breaking the records of others. Besides this, he holds 12 other titles. For example, he made the most drumstick flips in a minute with 98 flips. The majority of his records, however, are non-food related. Instead, Kelbie has proven himself adept at flipping things, stacking things, and spinning a basketball on a pair of spectacles, his finger, and his nose.
Why is staking six M&Ms so impressive?
Admittedly, a stack of six sounds small in most cases. This is especially so when it comes to M&M's as the tower of six stacked pieces barely makes it to four inches. It would be tempting, then, to assume that the main reason this is a world record is because so few people have bothered to contest the title. But stacking M&M's is harder than it sounds.
When Will Cutbill achieved his record of five M&M's in 2021, CNet reporter Gawl Fashingbauer Cooper decided to give it a go. As her name has not been mentioned yet, you may safely assume she failed. "My first [theory] was that the M&Ms stacked better if the little lowercase 'm' printed on them faced down," she wrote. "That seemed to work, until it didn't. I could only stack two."
She then tried to find flatter M&M's in her pack, but that didn't work either. So she tried different colors. Nope. She even tried imitating Cutbill by stacking multiple at a time. Still nope. Finally, she used different surfaces, but still couldn't make headway. So, when it comes to Kelbie's new record, it seems safe — at least for now.