• by Les Luchter , December 3, 2024

Hugs can not only help people emotionally, but lower blood pressure and boost the immune system, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Unfortunately, there’s somewhat of a hug deficit in North America, based on results of a new Klick Health survey in which 74% of Americans and Canadians say they won’t be able to hug someone they wish they could this holiday season -- mostly because of geographical distance (cited by 48% of them) or loved ones having passed away (62%).

The survey of some 3,000 people, conducted for Klick by Stagwell’s Maru Group, also finds that, holidays aside, 52% of respondents say they could use at least a few more hugs, with only 31% saying they get all the hugs they could want.

Following the pandemic when hugging decreased drastically, 54% of those surveyed say they now hug about the same as they did before COVID-19, while 34 % hug less and 12% more.  

Klick says these results and supportive evidence from Klick employees was the impetus for instructing folks on using Runway’s free AI tool to generate their own video hugs with anyone they can’t hug physically. The process, which requires photos of both huggers, is explained in a two-minute how-to YouTube video.

Several Klick employees, meanwhile, are featured in AI-generated hugs -- and some real-life surprise ones --- in “Holiday Hugs,” Klick’s four-minute 2024 holiday video.  For every view, Klick plans to donate $1 (up to $10,000) to the Foundation for Social Connection, a four-year-old nonprofit which helps fight against social isolation and loneliness.

“Seeing the joy and tears of our Klicksters reminds us that no technology can truly replace the magic of human connection,” the agency’s chief creative officer Rich Levy said in a statement, “but it can help bring us closer in the most surprising ways.”