Free Hugs Campaign

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Free Hugs in Sydney, August 2004

The Free Hugs Campaign is a social movement involving individuals who offer hugs to strangers in public places.,^[1] the campaign was widely publicized in 2006 by a music video on YouTube by the Australian band Sick Puppies. The campaign is an example of a random act of kindness, a purportedly selfless act performed by a person for the sole reason of making others feel better. Although not claimed as such, The Free Hugs Campaign is an incarnation of the story told in a book by Claude Steiner "A Warm Fuzzy Tale". The story itself is an introduction to key concepts of transactional analysis (TA).

1 History
2 Official free hugs website
3 Publicity and expansion
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
- 6.1 Other countries

[edit] History

A woman holding up a Spanish-language Free Hugs sign in Buenos Aires

Initial distrust of Juan Mann's motives eventually gave way to a gradual increase of people willing to be hugged, with other huggers (male and female) helping distribute them. After some time, security guards, then police told them they must stop, as Mann had not obtained public liability insurance worth $25 million for his actions. Mann and his companions used a petition to attempt to convince authorities that his campaign should be allowed to continue without the insurance. His petition reached 10,000 signatures. He submitted it and was allowed to continue giving free hugs.

On October 23, 2007, Juan Mann announced his residential address online and offered an open invitation to anyone to come over and chat on-camera as part of his 'open-house project'. Mann hosted 80 guests over 36 days. On November 25th, 2007, Mann's landlord threatened him with eviction, so he launched an online appeal.^[2] On December 25th, 2007, Juan Mann made his e-book "The Illustrated Guide to Free Hugs" available as a free download.

[edit] Official free hugs website

A website that is generally recognised as the official site of the free hugs campaign was launched in mid 2007. This site enables those involved in the campaign to better organise themselves and coordinate their efforts. Many intiatives resulted from these efforts. For example, on the website's forum, those involved in the campaign called for an annual International Free Hugs Day. Juan Mann declared that the day would fall on the first Saturday following June 30 each year; this being the first date that Juan ever offerred free hugs in Pitt Street Matt, Sydney in 2004. The first International Free Hugs Day was July 7, 2007. The next one will be on July 5, 2008.

[edit] Publicity and expansion

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A college student, Yu Tzu-wei, began a campaign in Taipei in October 2006 to "hug everyone in Taiwan".^[3]
in 2006, a Free Hugs Campaign began in Tel Aviv, Israel.^[4]
A mass "free hugs" day was scheduled at Pitt Street Mall for the New South Wales Labour Day (October 1, 2006) following the massive YouTube and media coverage.^[5]
In late October 2006 several Free Hugs Campaigns were organized in a number of cities in Italy.^[6]
On October 27, 2006 students Steve Loftus, Mark Wonnacott and Jeff Jones from Illinois-based McKendree University were featured in news media, including MLB.com, for giving free hugs before game five of the World Series in front of Busch Stadium.^[7]
On October 30, 2006, "Mann" was invited by Oprah Winfrey to appear on her show Oprah after her producer's doctor saw the Free Hugs video on YouTube. Juan Mann made an appearance outside her studio that morning, offering free hugs to the crowd waiting to see the taping of that day's episode. Oprah's camera crews caught several people in the audience hugging Mann as the morning progressed.^[8]
On November 6, 2006 a group of eleven people led by a twenty-four year old man named 'Baigu' tried the same campaign in Shanghai, only to be detained for one hour for not having a permit to hold a gathering in a public place.^[9]
A Free Hugs event on November 10, 2006 in Boulder, Colorado was covered by local media.^[10]
In Belgium the Free Hugs campaign appeared near the end of 2006, with Free Hugs events on December 22 and December 23 in Antwerp and on December 30 in Ghent.^[11]^[12]
On November 18, 2006 Geneva Online, an online community, organized the first Free Hugs event in Geneva, Switzerland.^[13]
The Free Hugs creators were interviewed by WHO.com.^[14]
On November 25, 2006, two friends in Chicago had a Free Hugs outing, and persuaded the police to join in the hugging.^[15]. On December 10, 2006, the same people, Amber Gribben and Nicholas Markos, along with additional friends, had another Free Hugs outing in downtown Chicago. They were found by a Fox News Chicago crew, who featured a report about them.^[16] Proceeds from the sale of downloads of the song ("Gimme All You Got" by bee) used in the first video are being donated to UNICEF.
On December 24, 2006, two Korean boy students in Singapore were featured in the local national newspaper, The Straits Times, for their 'free hugs' campaign started on November 22, outside Ngee Ann City shopping mall along Orchard Road. In a novel bid to spread the festive cheer, they had this campaign for the following consecutive Saturdays.^[17]
A group of undergraduates who met on the PTT BBS started a Free Hugs movement in the Kaohsiung, Taiwan Urban Spotlight Arcade on January 28, 2007.^[18]
As part of an initiative to combat discrimination against people infected with AIDS or HIV, the French Government will call on its citizens to embrace strangers who hoist signs in the street offering free hugs.^[19]
On April 14, 2007, Portuguese waitress Sara Viera living in Newcastle Upon-Tyne, England was reported on both BBC News and local press to be giving Free Hugs in the streets of Newcastle City Centre.
On January 6, 2008, first noticed Free Hugs event in Ukraine^[20]. In May, 2008, as a part of pre-elections campaign of one of the candidates for the city major in Kyiv, capital of Ukraine, the Free Hugs campaign took place. May 18, 2008, in Kyiv, a few peoples (not in pre-elections campaign) gives Free Hugs, on the central street Khreshchatyk, and around it.
There are many informal "Free Hugs" campaigns in Camden, London and around the United States.
On June 13, 2008, a Japanese giving out "Free Hugs" in Shibuya, Tokyo.