Free Hugs Campaign
Encyclopedia
Hug
A hug is a form of physical intimacy, that usually involves closing or holding the arms around the neck, back, or waist of another person; if more than two persons are involved, this is referred to as a group hug. A hug, sometimes in association with a kiss, eye contact or other gestures, is a...
s to strangers in public places. The hugs are meant to be random acts of kindness - selfless acts performed just to make others feel better. International Free Hugs Month is celebrated on the first Saturday of July and continues until August first.
The campaign in its present form was started in 2004 by an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n man known only by the pseudonym "Juan Mann". The campaign became famous internationally in 2006 as the result of a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
by the Australian band Sick Puppies
Sick Puppies
Sick Puppies is an Australian rock band, formed in 1997. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Shimon Moore, bassist Emma Anzai and drummer Mark Goodwin....
, which has been viewed over 70,000,000 times.
History
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. In the months prior to this, Mann had been feeling depressed and lonely as a result of numerous personal difficulties. However, a random hug from a stranger made an enormous difference, with Mann stating that "...I went out to a party one night and a completely random person came up to me and gave me a hug. I felt like a king! It was greatest thing that ever happened."
Mann carried the now iconic "FREE HUGS" sign from the outset. However on his first attempt in his hometown, where he returned to find that he was the only person he knew, as his friends and family had moved away, he had to wait fifteen minutes before an elderly lady came up to him and gave him a hug.
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. In October 2004 police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
told them they must stop, as Mann had not obtained public liability insurance
Liability insurance
Liability insurance is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims. It protects the insured in the event he or she is sued for claims that come within the coverage of the insurance policy...
worth $25 million for his actions. Mann and his companions used a petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
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.
Sick Puppies
Sick Puppies is an Australian rock band, formed in 1997. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Shimon Moore, bassist Emma Anzai and drummer Mark Goodwin....
, shortly after commencing his campaign, and over a two-month period in late 2004 Moore recorded video footage of Mann and his fellow huggers. Moore and his band moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in March 2005 and nothing was immediately done with the footage. Meanwhile Mann continued his campaign throughout 2005 and 2006 by appearing in Pitt Street Mall in Sydney most Thursday afternoons.
In mid 2006 Mann's grandmother died, and in consolation Moore made the music video using the footage he had shot in 2004 to send to Mann as a gift, stating in an interview that, "I sent it to him on a disc as a present and I wrote down 'This is who you are'." The video was later uploaded onto YouTube where it is now one of the most viewed videos on the site, with over 70 million views as of September 2011.
On October 30, 2006, Mann was invited by Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
to appear on her show Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
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.
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 25, 2007, Mann's landlord threatened him with eviction, so he launched an online appeal.
On December 25, 2007, Juan Mann made his e-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
"The Illustrated Guide to Free Hugs" available as a free download. On November 22, 2008, at YouTube Live
YouTube Live
YouTube Live was a 2008 event streamed live on the Internet from San Francisco and Tokyo. It was hosted by a variety of YouTube celebrities, including The Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am, Tom Dickson of Will It Blend, Michael Buckley, The Happy Tree Friends, Fred, Smosh, Esmée Denters and singer...
Sick Puppies did a performance of "All the Same" while Juan Mann gave hugs to crowd members. On February 13, 2009 a Free Hug Day took place.
On August 23, 2009, "Juan Mann" announced via his Facebook page linking to an article on his blog that he is "retiring" from Free Hugs, and has invited any interested party to take over the role – though he stresses that he does not own any rights relating to the Free Hugs concept, nor any income, and that there is nothing stopping anyone from undertaking the activity at any time, any place in the world. The successful applicant will take over the responsibilities of maintaining the Free Hugs website and forum, as well as any other "official" Free Hugs presence Juan presently maintains online.
Official website
A website that is generally recognized as the official site of the free hugs campaign, The Official Home of the Free Hugs Campaign, was launched in mid 2007. This site enables those involved in the campaign to better organize themselves and coordinate their efforts. Many initiatives resulted from these efforts. For example, on the websites forum (hosted on Dragon Arts), 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 offered free hugs in Pitt Street Mall, Sydney in 2004. The first International Free Hugs Day was July 7, 2007, the second on July 5, 2008 and the third was on July 4, 2009 (but see above re Valentine's Day).Juan Mann's Official Blog remained dormant after his apparent retirement but has recently been updated, proclaiming itself as the "true home" of the Free Hugs Campaign and regularly updated with interviews conducted with individuals holding Free Hugs Campaigns internationally.
Publicity and expansion
- In October 2006, a college student, Yu Tzu-wei, began a campaign in TaipeiTaipeiTaipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
to "hug everyone in TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
" - In October 2006, a Free Hugs Campaign began in Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. - On October 11, 2006, a group of four students began the movement in BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, pain] - In late October 2006, several Free Hugs Campaigns were organized in a number of cities in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. - On October 27, 2006, students Steve Loftus, Mark Wonnacott and Jeff Jones from IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
-based McKendree University were featured in news media, including MLB.comMLB.comMLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. . MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports columns...
, for giving free hugs before game five of the World SeriesWorld SeriesThe World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
in front of Busch StadiumBusch StadiumBusch Stadium is the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, of MLB...
. - On November 6, 2006, a group of eleven people led by a 24-year-old man named 'Baigu' (白骨) tried the same campaign in ShanghaiShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, only to be detained for one hour for not having a permit to hold a gathering in a public place. - On November 10, 2006, A Free Hugs event in BoulderBoulder, ColoradoBoulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
was covered by local media. - On November 18, 2006 Geneva Online, an online community, organized the first Free Hugs event in GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland. - On November 22, two Korean boy students organized a Free Hugs Campaign outside the Ngee Ann CityNgee Ann CityNgee Ann City is a shopping and commercial centre located on Orchard Road, Singapore. The S$520 million building was officially opened on 21 September 1993 by then Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong. Many Singaporeans refer to Ngee Ann City as "Taka", a slang-abbreviation of the anchor tenant's name,...
shopping mall along Orchard RoadOrchard RoadOrchard Road is a road in Singapore that is the retail and entertainment hub of the city-state. It is regularly frequented by the local population as well as being a major tourist attraction...
, SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. In a novel bid to spread the festive cheer, they had this campaign for the following consecutive Saturdays. - In late 2006 a Free Hugs Campaign commenced in BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
with events on December 22 and December 23 in Antwerp and on December 30 in GhentGhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
. - In March 2007, 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.
- On April 14, 2007, Portuguese waitress Sara Viera living in Newcastle Upon-Tyne, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
was reported on both BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
and local press to be giving Free Hugs in the streets of Newcastle City Centre. - In September 2008, Hector Salas with the help of Brad Pass filmed their own Free Hugs Campaign in the villages of Kampala, Uganda. Both were active duty U.S. Marine Embassy Guards during the filming of the video.
- On December 20, 2008, Indian composer A. R. RahmanA. R. RahmanAllah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
and percussionist SivamaniSivamaniAnandan Sivamani , popularly known as Sivamani, is a percussionist based in India. He plays many instruments including drums, Octoban, Darbuka, Udukai, and Kanjira, as well as many more. He performed drumming during the IPL Championships in 2008 & 2010. He is affiliated to the Chennai Super Kings...
created a song titled "Jiya Se Jiya", inspired by the Free Hugs Campaign and promoted it through a video shot in various cities in India. - In February 2009, a free hug offer startled downtown Toronto shoppers.
- In July 2009, a JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian radio station celebrated International Free Hugs Day by creating the first Free Hugs video from an ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
country. - In August 2009, in NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Free Hugs were offered by the Red Cross Youth in the yearly market "Steinkjermartnan". - On December 13, 2009, a small group of Calgarians (in Western Canada) braved intense cold to be on the streets to hug people who were walking to events in downtown Calgary. The initiators of the Hugs Day, Best U Can B Inc, also turned the hugs day campaign into a fundraising effort for a local charity called Servants Anonymous Society of Calgary www.servantsanon.com by selling t-shirts printed with the free hugs message, provided by freehugs4us.org. Photos and complete story at www.freehugs.bestucanb.ca. The hugs were very well received and the group made national television news and the local newspapers. A similar event will take place on July 3, 2010 in Calgary.
- On July 3, 2010, "Agkalies gia olous" (translation = "hugs for everyone"), a group of friends from Athens, Greece, organized a Free Hugs Campaign in Syntagma square, and held their positions despite the intense rainfall of that day.
- On July 3, 2010, The first "FREE HUGS Campaign for AIDS" was organized by a group of friends from a non-profit organization called "SHADOW of BODHI", at SIX different places at Chennai, India.
- On July 3, 2010, the members of Blackberry CircleBlackberry CircleBlackberry Circle is a legally recognized Wiccan church and state non-profit located in Conroe, Texas. They provide open Sabbat rituals for the general public as well as educational opportunities for those wishing to learn Wicca....
took part in Free Hugs Day in Old Town SpringOld Town SpringOld Town Spring is an old town with over 150 shops, restaurants, and art galleries in Spring, a community in unincorporated Harris County, Texas.Old Town Spring is north of the city of Houston and outside Beltway 8...
, near Houston, TexasHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. - On July 31, 2010, The first "FREE HUGS Campaign in Atlanta, Georgia" was organized by New Covenant Church of Atlanta, at Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta.
- Micheal CastaldoMicheal CastaldoMichéal Castaldo is an Italian-born Canadian, and now a New York City resident classical crossover tenor, music producer and composer.-Early life and musical career:...
recorded an Italian version of Hallelujah on his 2010 Vital Records album, Aceto. A video of the song was filmed in Toronto, Canada in December 2010 by filmmaker Greg Riccio Jr. supporting the FREE HuGGs Campaign. - On December 25, 2010, a group of Chinese and Canadian friends, gave FREE HUGS at various locations around Beijing China.
External links
- Official Home of the Free Hugs Campaign
- Juan Mann's Official Blog, Founder of the Free Hugs Campaign
- Original Free Hugs video at YouTube
- Free Hugs Campaign On Facebook
- Free Hugs Campaign on Myspace
- Free Hugs Group on DeviantArt
- Random Huggers Day
- Free Artwork for Free Hugs day
- World Hug Day
- Free Hugs in Sondrio, Italy
Other countries: