Free Hugs Campaign

Sometimes you come across things on YouTube that make you laugh or smile, but never have I come across a series of videos that just plain make me feel good the way that the 'free hugs campaign' videos do. You may have heard about this, the original video has over 22 million views - enough to inspire spin-offs and copies from all over the world.

A person, or a group of people, go out in public with a sign promoting free hugs. You then get to watch the reactions of people, and see the humble project snowball into a much larger event. Hugging is a pretty simple gesture and low key idea for a video, but after watching these it's even more clear how much good can be done with so little. If there's one thing the world could use a bit more of, it's probably hugs.

Free Hugs Campaign (original)


Free Hugs Amsterdam


Free Hugs Korea


Free Hugs Scotland

'Free Hugs Prank' by MediocreFilms

It's very likely that you've heard of the Free Hugs viral video; maybe you've seen it online or got it in an email. Hey, you might have even seen the original here on Editing Luke way back when. It was one of my first posts in 2008.

The Free Hugs video is the one where the guy, you guessed it, gives out all those free hugs leaving everyone smiling and feeling good about themselves - seriously, the videos are pretty uplifting. If you haven't seen the original, go to YouTube and type in 'free hugs' to see literally hundreds and hundreds of spin-offs from around the world. I've been a big fan of all these vids for quite a while now, but came across this comical twist just a couple days ago - the Free Hugs Prank: $2 Deluxe Hugs video by MediocreFilms. This should make you smile :)