Whether it's building the tallest sand castle, having the most people dancing the twist at the same time or getting the most motorcycles to "burn out" in one place, the Grand Strand appears to be trying to set some kind of record for being a place to set world records.
Now, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has come up with a new one: an attempt to set a Guinness Book World Record for the most cars ever in a convertible car show, as part of the annual Sun Fun Festival set to begin next month.
"If you saw that car show here not too long ago and how many cars were out there, we probably stand a pretty good chance (to break the record)," said chamber spokesperson Nora Hembree.
Hembree said there's no secret behind the motivation for trying to set world records. It's all about making news.
"It's a lot of pre-publicity before the event that gets people out and then if the Guinness World Record is broken, it's a lot of post publicity."
May is skin cancer awareness month and as part of its Cinco de Mayo festival last week, the Burro Loco restaurant in Myrtle Beach tried to set a world record for the most people putting on sunscreen at the same time.
Organizers thought they would only need around 300 people or so, but discovered just days before the event that they really needed more than 432 participants, since the old record was recently broken in Australia. The restaurant attracted 186 sunscreen appliers, far short of the record. Though they failed in their attempt, Burro Loco spokesperson Elise Angell said organizers weren't really heartbroken.
"Not at all. We just did it to have fun and again the main focus was for skin cancer prevention and detection."
Angell said any attempt to set a world record requires more organization, planning and paperwork than many people expect.
"We had to have a lot of documentation, we had to have witnesses that had to sign a specific contract, so yeah, it's pretty involved."
Tying-in a record attempt with a specific cause or existing event is also part of the strategy.
"With the twist, it was Chubby Checker that was gonna be here. With the sand castle, we're a beach destination and that always gets people out. So we just try to tie it in with the event that may be going on or make it family-friendly, Myrtle Beach-related," Hembree said.
Of course, Myrtle Beach isn't the only place trying to set records. Some of them border on the downright strange or bizarre.
Recently, a feline with a deafening purr set the world record for being the loudest domestic cat, rodeo organizers in China (who knew they held rodeos in the People's Republic?) have announced plans for a record line-dancing attempt and a few years ago, a teenager in Washington state set a record for blowing up balloons with his nose.
Why would anyone want to sit in all 92,000 seats in the Rose Bowl or document the decibels of a cat's purr? Again, it's all about publicity.
"It draws a lot of instant publicity, which is really the thought that goes into it when we're brainstorming ideas like that here at the chamber," Hembree said.
Hembree wouldn't reveal plans for any future record-breaking attempts by the Chamber.
"I can't tell you all our secrets."
But it's unlikely to include any attempt to break a record for the number of people blowing up balloons with their noses.
