Title	FIRST HUGS
Brand	CANON
Product/Service	CAMERA MATERIAL
Category	F04. Social Behaviour
Entrant	HAPPINESS BRUSSELS / AN FCB ALLIANCE, BELGIUM
Idea Creation	HAPPINESS BRUSSELS / AN FCB ALLIANCE, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Karen Corrigan	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Executive Creative Management
Geoffrey Hantson	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Chief Creative Officer
Katrien Bottez	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Creative Director
Roxane Schneider	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Concept Provider
Pieter Claeys	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Concept Provider
Mattias Vermeire	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Account Director
Bart Vande Maele	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Head of Production
Dominique Turnbull	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Agency Producer
Arthur De Wachter	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Agency Producer
Simon Schuurman	Happiness / An FCB alliance	Motion Designer
Lieve Blancquaert	Freelance	Photographer
Bruno Winnen	Canon	Country Director Benelux
Filip Vandenbempt	Canon	Senior Manager Corporate Communications and Marketing Services Benelux
Aris Arakelian	Canon	Digital Communication Specialist

Please tell us about the social behaviour that inspired the work

Hugging. A wonderful act that can speak a thousand words and which we always considered normal. Until suddenly, it wasn’t anymore. For months, quarantined because of COVID-19, people were no longer allowed to leave their homes and to hug loved ones who were not living with them. The mental toll of this ‘no touch’ lockdown was and still are really heavy. As says Prof Robin Dunbar, evolutionary psychologist at the University of Oxford, “Touch is fundamental. The sort of more intimate touching - arm round the shoulder, a pat on the arm and these kind of things reserved for closer friendships and family members - are really important," he says. “They make us feel happier, satisfied and trusting of others.” Not surprisingly research shows that hugging and touching your loved ones is the one thing we missed most in quarantine.