Chicken Licken targets Guinness World Records title with giant rubber band ball

Chicken Licken is attempting to set a Guinness World Records title by building the world’s largest rubber band ball.

The campaign is led by South African comedian, actor and voice artist Tyson Ngubeni.

Known as the Rubber Band Man, Ngubeni has spent weeks training and helping to build the ball while encouraging South Africans to contribute rubber bands to the project.

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The attempt will culminate in a live weigh-in in early December. Guinness World Records adjudicators will assess the ball to determine whether it has broken the existing record of 5 251.69kg.

American Claude P. Moore holds the current record, with a rubber band ball measured in Detroit, Michigan, on 29 August 2026. Moore spent 11 years building the ball.

Chicken Licken rubber bands: A piece of South African pop culture

Chicken Licken is using one of its recognisable brand features, the rubber bands traditionally used to secure its takeaway packaging, as the centre of the record attempt.

The campaign follows the fast-food chain’s announcement earlier this year that it would discontinue rubber bands at all its branches with immediate effect.

Xolisa Dyeshana, chief creative officer at Joe Public, said the campaign aimed to turn the familiar item into a record attempt.

“The Chicken Licken rubber band is a piece of South African pop culture. It holds our meals together, and now it could help hold a world record,” he said.

“We didn’t want to just make an ad about a big rubber band ball; we wanted to actually build one. This is South African ingenuity at its most entertaining and wonderfully unexpected. We’re carrying the hopes of the nation, one rubber band at a time.”

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