The stunt was set up by Borough Market to celebrate its 1000th Christmas in Southwark.
Organisers arranged for a world-record 1000 simultaneous kisses to take place under a 300 sq ft ceiling of 1000 individually tied bunches of mistletoe – one for every person taking part.
In line with traditional mistletoe-kissing etiquette, kisses needed to be on the cheek (damn!) – so mums, dads, kids and even babies were all invited to plant one on.
The market joined forces with top physics experts at Royal Holloway, University of London, to harness the power of love at the switch-on. Everyone taking part held on to the handle of a short length of cable linking them to a fellow pecker in the chain. Together they acted as a circuit, and switched on the lights as they ‘connected’ by sharing their collective Christmas kiss.
Physicist David Farmer, from Royal Holloway, said: “We found that the total amount of energy generated by 1000 one-second kisses could theoretically power Borough’s Christmas display. Harnessing this energy is hard, but you can still use a kiss to turn the lights on! After lots of calculations we’re excited to bring physics to life in a fun way and show that it’s more than just facts in a textbook.”
The record for simultaneous kisses at a single venue had never previously been attempted, and organisers are now waiting to learn whether the kissers’ achievement will be officially ratified by Guinness World Records.
