The following interview with Juan "Mr Free Hugs" Mann was conducted via e-mail from Friday 9 November to Friday 7 December 2007.

For more information about the Free Hugs Campaign, check out:

-- the official website
-- the MySpace page
-- the Facebook page
-- the Wikipedia entry

***

What's the point of free hugs?

A Free Hugger is there to do exactly that, offer Free Hugs. People will talk of their motivations for stopping to get a hug, people will mention the troubles in their lives, and it's not usually in an effort to elicit sympathy or counselling, but as a way of explaining the importance of the hug they just received.

Who should do free hugging, and what can they get out of it?

Who should take up offering Free Hugs? Anyone who wants to. Anyone who feels alone, sad, isolated. Anyone who simply feels like they need a hug. Anyone who wants to make someone else smile.

Is the free hugs campaign like "vote for Labor"? Is there a goal? Is there any centralization? Are you the leader?

The dictionary definition of the word "campaign" lists it as exerting oneself continuously to be an advocate for a certain cause.

Unlike a political campaign, the Free Hugs Campaign has no end to achieve -- there is no goal to reach, there is no final moment when anyone can sit back and say "Our work here is done." It is a campaign without end. Its aim is to show a little human warmth and kindness.

The way I envision it, the Free Hugs Campaign shares many of the same attributes as the internet itself. Anyone can take it up or put it down, anyone can do what they want with it. It belongs to everybody. I am no more a leader of it than you are. You make your sign, you make your shirt and You are the Free Hugs Campaign. You dictate your own terms of involvement.

Much the same as life, the beautiful thing about the Free Hugs Campaign is knowing you're the one who gets to put it all together.

There are no membership lists or requirements. How can you commercialise, commodify or centralise a concept that is so human and all encompassing?

Can or should a free hugger do more than hug?

I think the services that provide more are out there in the world and it's up to the individual to either find them and take advantage of the services on offer, or to support said services in any way they can. A Free Hugger offers Free Hugs. A moment of connection between two people and a simple task in a complicated world.



Your second YouTube video attempted to initiate a free help charity, where individuals could directly assist one another. Whatever happened to it?

The Free Help Campaign was an exercise in hope that went belly up in a month. While the idea was solid and definitely viable, there weren't enough checks and balances in place to prevent people from being taken advantage of. There were a couple of incidents within the first month, a man conned a few hundred dollars out of people with a sob story about dentistry bills. Alongside that, there was an issue with teenagers not being able to offer any real help, except for an open ear to listen to people.

Between the con artists and the well-intentioned teenagers offering an open ear to hear other people's troubles and instead being taken advantage of (no actual incidents, just the very real prospect of it happening), I thought it best to remove the site until I could finance running it properly.

The eventual sale of my book will see a majority of the money poured into kickstarting the Free Help Campaign again, perhaps under a different name, with a few more controls to prevent any problems.

Are there common patterns among the people who hug you, or among the people who visit you at your house?

There is a common pattern and it surprises me the most. It's women. Who hug me, who visit me at home. More women than men. The numbers are heavily stacked towards women, some 70% to 30% women to men.

What does that say about the world at large? What does that tell you about society?

I don't understand it, but I am not a woman.

Do you steal wallets?

Rarely, someone will say "You're going to steal my wallet" and I'll hand mine over for them to hold while I hug them.

It's strange, that people doubt my intentions. Pitt Street is one of the most heavily watched, monitored and secure areas of the city. Between undercover police officers, the cameras, and the abundance of security in the area, you can't get away with anything there.



Are you, as the Chaser parody partially suggests, looking for a free feel up, or a free root?

I either get told I'm homosexual by men from time to time, who take issue with hugging men, or the same type of men will hold their girlfriends back from hugging me.

I'm not out there for sexual reasons -- believe me, hugging people doesn't carry that thrill. And it's a pathetic way of attempting to pick up. Remember the notion that "nice guys finish last"? Well, I'm a professional nice guy and every woman I meet out there is very reluctant to get involved.

Then what sinister motive do you have?

The whole idea behind the word "Free" implies that not only is it free of cost, but free of burden, of risk.

People expect the worst. I can't change that fact. All I can do is persist in maintaining the simple rules I have for myself.

Don't accept people's money, Don't accept phone numbers and Don't accept dates.

Keep it pure, keep it simple. It's all about that moment with a stranger and that's all.

I think we live in this world where we're conditioned to expect the worst from people. We hear it daily in the news and from people we know and love. That other people cause us trouble.

Statistically though, it's a minority, a tiny, tiny minority.

But we live in this culture of fear where everyone we see pass us in the street, everyone who bumps into us in a store, everyone who makes eye contact with us on the bus or train is our enemy, is someone to be suspicious of.

When I started offering Free Hugs, I'd leave my wallet, phone and keys in a locker at the State Library out of fear that a stranger would pick my pocket and steal my wallet. Three years on and not even close.

Have you ever been apprehensive to hug someone, or outright refused to do so, on the grounds that they were scary or dirty?

In the three and a half years I've offered Free Hugs I've never turned anyone down. It was something I thought about in advance. If I was going to offer to hug people, I was going to have to hug everyone and anyone. Clean or dirty, scary or not.

I've never felt apprehensive about hugging someone until after we've hugged. There have been very rare occasions where someone will either try and sexualise the hug by talking about the power of chakras and the importance of "touching thighs" or, more rarely, have threatened to kill me while hugging me.

Even after those moments have passed, it's a side effect, a consequence of the thing I've done. Better me than someone else, right? I'm prepared for this.

They threatened to kill you?!

People who make death threats do so because they believe strongly in what I'm doing. The threat isn't so much one of "You're doing a bad thing and you must die" but they've all echoed the same theme of "You're doing an amazing thing that means so much to people -- if you do anything that takes that away or changes the way people perceive your actions, I'll kill you."

It's more like an angry boss threatening to fire you than a psychotic person wanting to keep a lock of your hair.

No one has ever directly physically threatened me, I've never really been in any position of danger or fear. I know saying that after mentioning a death threat seems hypocritical, but it's true.

I asked a friend of mine whether she'd stand in Pitt Street Mall and hug people. Her main concern was safety. What if people try to grope her, what if a group of males approaches and overpowers her.

It's all a matter of location and numbers -- the Pitt Street Mall is such a heavily observed, trafficked and monitored area in terms of physical safety, there's absolutely no concern at all. No sooner would someone threaten you with an act of violence, they would be detained.

In terms of groping, there is a risk. For both male and female huggers. It's very, very rare that it's anything more than a playful pinch on the bum. At first, it's the most disgusting, violating experience in the world. But, it is a risk and one that has to be accepted before getting involved. You're inviting people into your personal space, it's not without risk. Some people will interpret that differently and seek to take advantage. There's no more risk for women than for men in my experience and there aren't really any different measures you could take to prevent yourself from being groped.

Basically, stay in public areas with crowds. Avoid offering Free Hugs in a bikini. Dress suitably and all is well. And for women offering Free Hugs, do so in groups. The old adage "safety in numbers" holds true.

In terms of the "group of men overpowering woman and violently raping a woman in public" scenario -- it's that attitude that got me and offering Free Hugs banned in the first place. It's absolutely ludicrous to think that way and it's that attitude that causes more perceived problems in society. The potential victim attitude makes things worse in the world and not better. It perpetuates that culture of fear we've all grown to believe is acceptable and it's not.

Is there a terrible pressure and responsibility to keep doing what you're doing?

I don't feel pressured at all to keep doing what I do. I'm not obliged to do it, I'm not contractually bound or financially obligated to keep doing it. It's a labour of love for lack of a better term. I do it because I choose to do so. If I were to stop, who would take my place? Who would do what I do here in Sydney?

Do you feel guilty if you're not hugging?

If I'm not out there every Thursday, I don't feel a guilt for not showing up, as if I've let someone down, but I do feel as if my life is missing something. It's an important part of who I am.

Do you feel you have to keep your trademark beard?

My beard is a trademark? It's more a side effect of my lack of an actual chin -- there's no pressure to keep it at all. I keep it around because I don't much like shaving and it gives my chin some definition, which it lacks on its own.

What motivates you to keep going? You must have thought many times: "I don't feel like travelling all the way out there, and standing around for hours, and having people look at me funny. What if I simply stopped going? Is this a waste of my time?"

I'm motivated to keep going by the knowledge that no matter how insignificant a gesture it may seem to be, it means something to somebody. It's the most selfless thing I've ever done and I am constantly humbled by the weight and gravity of the problems people tell me they have in their lives. Knowing that simply by standing there and offering myself to the world, those troubled people find a moment of solace, comfort or happiness makes it worthwhile and keeps me going back.

If ever I've felt like not going out, I'll delay leaving, I'll sit around the house and relax, play video games and before I know it, I'm out the door and on the street. It's a compelling thing and an experience that I haven't had rivalled in the years since I began. Riding roller coasters, racing fast cars, eating fine food, watching a great movie, these things just don't compare to the simple act of offering Free Hugs.

I'm fortunate that I always meet inspirational people, happy people, brave people. It's more of a pleasure for me than others, I think. It's one of the many reasons I keep going out there. Meeting such a diverse range of people.

You've been doing this for years -- do you get the same pleasure, still, from giving hugs?

The buzz is exactly the same, it's the intensity that changes. The first months I offered Free Hugs, I was smiling the entire week after my day in town. It was a non-stop time of elation and nigh invulnerability. I had such love and faith in the world, even after hearing the harrowing stories of suffering, betrayal and loss from people.

Knowing I was doing something that mattered to somebody is what gave me the buzz. Not so much the embraces themselves, but the reactions I got from people.

I still get the same reactions from people now, but mostly it's from tourists and not Sydney locals. I've become a part of the street furniture or cityscape.

Do people treat you as something of a curiosity, an oddity to come stare at -- to put it harshly, a sideshow attraction? Do you feel "on display"? Do people objectify you?

It's strange to think about how other people perceive me. I'm aware of the stereotypical views and how I don't quite fit the mould. I do think that people see me in a different light to others. As if I'm not quite the same, something "other". A sideshow attraction? No, the buskers in Pitt Street provide that allure. An object? No, I think people are aware just how human I am.

Okay, let's run some stereotypes. Are you mad?

Is it mad to believe in other people? Is it mad to show love and kindness? Is it mad to have compassion? Is it mad to speak to a stranger? Is it mad to be friendly?

If showing a little tenderness in a weary world is mad, then I wouldn't want to be sane.

I don't think I'm mad. I think I've taken a different approach to something we all think about at some point or another and taken a stand.

Are you enlightened (you do look quite a lot like Jesus, and also like John Lennon)?

Ahh -- the angel without wings thing. I hear it a lot. Most of the emails I receive say things to that effect. But I'm not. I certainly don't see it. I don't think my friends or family or anyone who gets to know me, sees it either.

It's flattering to know that some people think so highly of me, but I feel... a fraud? I'm just another guy, doing a very simple, human thing, because it makes someone smile. I'm just a simple man, trying to make his way in the world.

But, if thinking that way makes people feel better about themselves or the world for that matter, who am I to argue? Maybe they need that, that institution of belief and hope. I just don't think I can live up to the perception.

I am only human after all.

Okay, you're not a saint. But are you an overly idealistic stoned-out anti-corporate enviro-nazi activist vegan hippy?

The hippy stereotype -- my favourite one!

I may look the part, my public actions may reflect the part, but it is just that, aesthetics.

I eat burgers and love meat. I buy brands (my favourites are Sony and Microsoft). I'm pro-consumer because it's pro-economy which is pro-civilisation, or at least the way it is now. I'm not one to wish people to be robbed of their jobs. I don't want to destabilise the economy. The status quo mostly works.

I'm just focussed on a detail. Human Kindness. Regardless of political views, religious beliefs, gender, sexual preference or any other brouhaha.

I accept the world is the way it is and I'm not agitating for change, I'm not preaching a message or pushing a different line of thought. I'm doing one thing and one thing only.

And I really love burgers. And the mod cons of society. Oh and I absolutely love violent video games and heavy metal. Go figure.

Are you an unemployed bum with too much time on his hands?

In the past, Thursdays were my days off from whatever odd job I had that paid my bills while studying at uni. Instead of sitting around the house, I'd get my stuff ready and hit the city streets and offer Free Hugs, only to return to work, incognito, the next day.

That people assume I'm a bum, a sponge, a leech, a hippy, that's fine. I'm pretty laid back about it all and can see why they'd draw those conclusions.

The thing that makes me smile is knowing I'm probably happier in my life, no matter how humble it is, than they are in theirs. And I have a nice TV (not very humble statements at all -- the irony is delicious).

I'm surviving on life savings and the gracious loans of my dad. I'm not a burden to society and I'm hardly unemployed. I try and keep in contact with people all over the world, supporting the Free Hugs Campaign in what little way I can. It's not a job, but it is a calling. I've blown my life savings supporting this campaign. The merchandise that sells through the official site, I don't earn anything from.

Are you hurt by these stereotypes?

When it comes down to it, everyone's entitled to their opinion and I can see where they're coming from. Some of them are slightly accurate, some of them are completely off the mark, but maybe I'm a little bit of each of these.

The people who approach me in the street, they've only kind words to speak. The people who abuse me or have negative things to say, do so from afar and that's fine. It doesn't affect me at all.

Does it bother me? Not in the slightest. My life is too good to worry about these kind of things. I like to keep things simple. If it doesn't directly impact on my life, then I don't worry about it.

Did you say earlier that you don't make money from the website? Then who the hell does?

FreeHugsCampaign.Org is my website for the Free Hugs Campaign. It's not the only one and the campaign has a great presence right across the internet, at sites such as Facebook, MySpace and CouchSurfing.

Much like the Free Help charity, I can't afford to update the site or make great changes to it. In fact, I don't even have access to the site beyond the forums, much like everyone else. It's maintained, financed and controlled by the management team behind the band Sick Puppies. All merchandise sold on the site goes to them, much to my chagrin. I haven't made a dollar out of the Free Hugs Campaign or merchandise associated with it.

Again, I have grand ideas of what the site should be, but have no recourse to making it what I envision. So it is what it is until I can afford to make it something better, more inclusive. I don't have much involvement with the forums, simply because I prefer my hands off approach to the whole campaign.

I'd rather people focus more on the idea and the gesture than the man behind it. Who I am and where I came from aren't important. It's where I go and what I do that are worth noticing.

But the man is still interesting. Where did the name "Juan Mann" come from?

When I returned from London, leaving my family, my fiancee and the future I had planned behind, I realised very quickly, that without any support structure or social network I was very literally just one man, all alone in the world.

And for months, I moped about it, felt depressed about how I'd lost this life I had immaculately planned and how alone I felt in the world.

I'd caught up with an old friend and was lamenting my life and its woes when I said "but now I'm just one man, alone in the world, there's nothing I can do".

He laughed and thought I'd said my name was "Juan Mann".

I laughed and thought about it. If I was Juan Mann, what kind of life would I lead? What would make me happy? Where would I want to go? What would I want to do?

When I started offering Free Hugs I didn't want people to know my name, I was worried about my family finding out about what I was doing and also concerned that people would think I was doing this thing, offering Free Hugs, for selfish reasons.

The first person that asked me my name, I didn't tell them. I said something about how it didn't matter who I was, just that I was there and doing what I was doing. I could have been anybody and they would have hugged me.

They didn't settle for that answer. So I resorted to the one name I remembered that seemed fitting.

Satisfied, they left and the name has stuck ever since.

Do you still conceal biographical information about yourself?

I still avoid telling people my name in an interviewing and publicity capacity, but should you knock on my door tomorrow, I'll happily introduce myself with my birthname.

It comes down to a matter of ego. I believe that if I was doing what I was doing for fame, fortune and celebrity I would have stuck with my birth name and made it recognisable.

But I'm not. And I've done nothing spectacular. Anybody could do what I've done. So it's important to me to emphasise that. Hence I keep the name.

I tell people my story. I've written my story down. I'm happy to share it -- warts and all. I just save my name from the media for the sake of those who I feel may have suffered enough. My family.

My parents have real jobs with real profiles and my actions could have real consequences on their standing. I wouldn't want to cause them any more grief than they've already had to endure.

Do you ever feel "Juan Mann" is a mask you put on and take off and that's quite different from the real you?

It's been a struggle, for the past few years, to come to terms with the perception others may have of me and my actions versus the reality of who I am and what I do.

There was a time, when there was a clean cut distinction between "Juan Mann" and the rest of my life. A velvet jacket, a cardboard sign, and I'm Juan Mann. Without it, I'm anyone else.

The issue, then, isn't one of wearing a mask and playing a role like some actor, but more a matter of whether or not the ideals and message Juan Mann upholds and stands for are things that I believe in my "private life".

There is a difference, ever so slight, between Juan Mann and my private life self. I feel that Juan Mann embodies the best of me, of compassion, of kindness, of my own humanity. It's a charming, innocent naivete.

The other days of the week, I'm fiercely protective of that. I'm always on guard against somebody, anybody who may seek to bring even the slightest disturbance into my life.

I enjoy the peace and serenity I've created for myself. Ironically or, perhaps, all too humanly, I'm willing to protect it at seemingly any cost.

There is a duality between Juan Mann and my private life, one the pacifist, the other, protector.

One and the same but with a different approach to the world. Juan embraces all and in public. In private there's a reserve. I'm rectifying that as days go by with this open house experiment. Soon enough, where there were two, there will be only Juan.

(Cheesy, I know.)

Could you say more about the temporary ban of free hugging, and the petition that ended it?

When I decided to keep offering Free Hugs on a weekly basis I kept approaching the council looking for some kind of permit, to keep everything on the level. I'd selected my place of business to keep myself safe from harm and to allay others' fears. Dealing with the issue of bureaucracy was an entirely different issue I hadn't prepared for.

Buskers need a permit to do their acts, to earn an income and perform in public areas around the city. I couldn't qualify for one of those because I didn't ask for money. So it was a strange situation where there wasn't an official option for them to endorse me or to ask me to leave.

Yet, five months into my tenure offering Free Hugs a trio of City Rangers accompanied by a man in a suit, the official types from Town Hall, came down to the mall and tried taking the sign out of my hands. They informed me that I had to go and that I was breaching a local council ordinance. That if I refused to comply, I would be fined some $2500 for a first offence and more for every subsequent offence. I wasn't bound and gagged and escorted out. I reclaimed my sign and walked straight down to Town Hall to sort the situation out.

In the five months I'd been active and the council had been aware of my actions, there had been an official rewrite of the rules, incorporating a little paragraph in their "Signage and Advertising Control Plan" that prohibited the use of signs that offered a service on a person or utilising their physical person. Essentially, "No hawking prostitution and No Free Hugs". The official line was if somebody got hurt, the council was responsible. If I obtained public liability insurance the council would be able to rest assured in the knowledge that they wouldn't be liable if I made a mistake.

I tried sneaking back to the Pitt Street Mall every week and every week I'd see the three rangers walking towards me. I'd pack up and run. When hugs are outlawed, only outlaws hug. It was the most ridiculous, soul-crushing thing I had experienced. Kindness as an illegality.

I did a call around other councils in the greater Sydney area, asking if it would be a problem if I relocated there. One man at a local council told me I should get a petition behind me -- that the other way to prove I wasn't a liability was to get the public on side.

And people of all ages and nationalities everywhere signed the petition. People who saw others signing the petition would stop, ask and sign away. The support was overwhelming. It took just over a fortnight to obtain ten thousand signatures.

I strolled into Town Hall with my stack of petitions and explained my position to the lady at the desk. She made a couple of phone calls around Town Hall and came back to me with "Sorry, we have no record of anyone within council having spoken to you at all."

I was stunned. I felt like I'd done all of this for nothing. I asked her to call the City Rangers office and get their assurance that I wouldn't be bothered again. I asked for something, anything, a document, a laminated card, a stamp on my hand that said everything was fine and dandy and I wouldn't be threatened with being fined again. I got nothing.

The lady asked for the petition, for all ten thousand signatures. I've still got the majority of the pages with me now.

There haven't been problems since -- but the little by-law is still in their signage and advertising control plan. Now, I think they kinda like having me there, but I haven't spoken to the council since and they haven't spoken to me. The City Rangers drop by every now and then for a chat -- we're friends now. They were just doing their jobs after all.

Has hugging involved you in any other trouble with authority figures?

Police have always been pretty decent about my presence. They usually stop by and have a chat when they're passing through the mall. I'm not bothering anyone so they aren't bothered by me.

The only authority issue I've had other than council, I was invited along to speak at a high school one time. I delivered a quick speech and offered everyone a Free Hug. The teachers asked me to leave because they aren't allowed to hug students and any grown man hugging teenagers is apparently very, very dodgy.

They threatened to call the police. I went and visited the police station first, just to pre-empt any trouble.

Free hugging seems to have caused people in other countries legal difficulties. Any thoughts?

The only places with issues have been China and the Middle East. In China, it was the issue of groups of people organising with signs promoting something. In the instances of arrests that I've heard of, the people were detained momentarily, questioned and sent on their way, usually with official sanctioning for their activities (better than what I've had). The Free Hugs Campaign is huge in China -- shopping malls use it to get people inside and shopping, bands are using it to promote themselves, individuals are out on the streets offering Free Hugs.

The controversy passes when the concept is more easily understood.

As for the Middle East -- it's a question of cultural difference. Men hold hands in public in Saudi Arabia, kissing each other on the cheek is acceptable throughout the Middle East -- but hugging between genders is sexualised and therefore not encouraged.

It's a shame, really -- the Middle East is the last real place to embrace the campaign, but... it's a cultural thing and I understand that. It's where my family is from, it's the same culture I was raised with, albeit here in Australia

When you started free hugging, you couldn't have foreseen how it would overtake your life, and that you'd become defined in terms of it. Do you have any regrets?

Do I have any regrets about the decisions I've made and the life that seemingly chose me? None whatsoever. I'm fortunate to encounter smiles and happy people wherever people recognise me. I created something that I believe in and learned how to see the world in a brighter light.

How have you changed between the first time you hugged and now?

The most significant change I feel, is that I now have a sense of purpose. Whereas before I was drifting somewhat aimlessly, after my family fell apart, I think offering Free Hugs helped me find a way to define myself, my actions and the world I want to live in. In creating something for myself to believe, I was a lot happier, more peaceful, far more appreciative of the world.

How important is giving away free hugs in the scheme of things?

Not very, but it means something to someone. And that's what I'm out there for. That one person who comes up to me and tells me exactly why they needed a hug that day. I'm doing it for them.

Is there any advice you want to give to potential huggers?

I'm not really one for offering advice on it all. I think it's a learning experience and you just have to get out there and give it a go. The world isn't as bad a place as you might think it is.

Besides, the worst thing that could happen, is that you've made someone smile. Even if it is at your expense.

***

Juan Mann was recently involved in an open house project:



But this has resulted in problems -- his landlord now intends to evict him. In response, Juan has started the Free Home Campaign:

I am facing the threat of eviction. I won't be allowed to rent another property. I will be homeless. Another man with a sign standing on the side of the road looking for a bed for the night. So what I need, what I'm asking for, is a Free Home. I have $9.16 and 21 days. A home free of charge, free of cost: A safe place in the world that all are welcome into. But who gives away a Free Home? I need ideas - how can I solve this problem? Who do you know I can ask for help? Who can provide a free home? I'm happy to hear all the answers, ideas and suggestions that you might have. This may be crazy, but with your help it just might work. This is how you can make a difference today. Not just to my life, but the many people who have shared their company. What I need, is a Free Home. Here I am, hoping for the kindness of strangers. Keep checking FreeHomeCampaign.Org for updates.

Juan Mann's contact details (as of today) include:

-- e-mail: freehugscampaign (at) yahoo (dot) com
-- phone: 0416-730-891
-- address: Unit 12, 30 Bucknell Street, Newtown NSW 2042, Australia
-- the official Free Hugs website
-- the Free Hugs MySpace page (from which donations can be made for the Free Home Campaign)
-- the Free Hugs Facebook page

For other interviews with Juan Mann (apart from all his YouTube videos!), check out:

-- interview with Jenna Good for Who Magazine (19 October 2006)
-- video interview (2 November 2006)
-- 10 questions with Juan Mann in Melbourne (2007):