The whole thing smells a little like a publicity stunt tbh.

I don't know how you got that from the article. It sounds more like someone from Guinness stepped in when they got some bad publicity.

For anyone not paying attention, the rules for this particular record required using commercially available matchsticks but you have to cut the (flammable) tips off. The guy here got bored doing that so he asked a local matchstick manufacturer to send him some boxes without those tips - and they obliged.

8 years later he contacts Guinness and they say "nah mate you need to use commercially available matches, disqualified" almost immediately and some news articles pop up about it.

Guinness eventually caves and says "all right fine we'll allow it" and that's it. No money exchanged hands, if anything Guinness' original decision was probably correct given the rules but here we are.