For far too long the Philippines have languished in a void of cultural irrelevance, known primarily for their women becoming nurses or mail order brides. But that’s all about to change, as the country’s protagonists of enrichment are going to put themselves on the map for something truly important – pillow fighting.
The owners of the Hotel Sogo, which boasts 20 locations throughout the Philippines, are urging their fellow countrymen to join them as “United Pillow Fighters”, which can bring in a completely different crowd if written poorly, as part of Pillow Fight Manila 2001 and an attempt at breaking the world pillow fighting record.
“We will call on our kababayans (fellowmen) to help us break the world record for the largest number of people participating in a pillow fight,” Gus Corpus, Hotel Sogo’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.
Hotel Sogo said a wave of pillow fights will run in colleges and universities starting this month to encourage people ages 16 and above to register as “United Pillow Fighters.”
Among these schools are the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, where over 100 students took part in a pillow fight last Friday, July 1. ( )
The current record is held by a group in England that gathered 3,706 participants in 2008 to benefit the BBC’s Children in Need event. Corpus wants at least 5,000 Filipinos to join him at his event, which doesn’t have an official venue or date yet, but who cares about silly little details like that?
The Philippines’ effort will join established events like World Pillow Fight Day and countless flash mobs as indicators of a growing public fascination with pillow fights. But I remember a time when pillow fighting used to be about having fun and not setting world records. Thankfully, so do some people in Cambridge, MA, as they recently hosted their own pillow fight. I’ve got a gallery after the jump in case you want to know what it’s like to be hit with a bag of feathers by someone who loves Rilo Kiley.
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