The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports planners of the Superman Celebration in the 6,500-resident Ohio River community of Metropolis have their eyes set on entering the record books for the most people dressed as the superhero at one time. The Metropolis festival gets under way Thursday.
The mark now stands at 437. But they may have competition. On Wednesday, 566 people dressed up as Superman at Sears Holdings' headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates. That event was tied to a new Superman movie.
Supermen and superwomen at Sears Headquarters in Hoffman Estates, hundreds of them in full costume as Sears and Warner Brothers teamed up to promote the new movie "Man of Steel," which opens on June 14. Sears is one of the characters in the film.
"The movie will feature Kenmore and Craftsmen products. Superman's father uses Craftsman Tools and works at a Sears," said Ron Boire, executive VP, Sears and K-Mart.
This collection of Sears employees, during their lunchhour, tried to set a new mark in the Guinness Book of World Records. The old record of 437 Supermen was set by a Canadian company, but Sears plans to be more powerful than a locomotive and demolish that.
For a salesman of kryptonite vaccinations, this is the mother lode, a record number of men of steel, almost 700 of them. But they all fly like bricks.
One of the supermen makes a flying attempt, and ABC7's Frank Mathie asks: "Wow! How far did you go?"
"About four feet," a Sears superman says. "That's better than I did in high school."
Another Sears superwoman stages a flying act. Frank Mathie asks: "How fast are you going?"
"About as fast as you're going," the Sears superwoman said.
"And I'm not going anywhere," said Mathie.
"Well, then I'm not going that fast either," the Sears superwoman said.
Seven hundred costumes were handed out to the employees, but well over a hundred of the men of steel wimped out and went back to work before they were counted.
"I'm delighted to say Sears in Chicago sets a new Guinness record with 566," said Philip Robertson, Guinness Book of World Records.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
