In today's fast-paced world, stress levels rise for a variety of reasons. Often, we resort to watching content online, gaming, and spending time on social media to de-stress and relax. On the contrary, spending time and physical closeness with our parents is decreasing as work and other social obligations take precedence. However, a recent social experiment conducted by ITC Sunfeast Mom’s Magic shows that hugging mom was the most powerful stress reliever for the protagonist, giving him a boost of happiness.

To propagate this message, Sunfeast Mom’s Magic this new year launched a nationwide campaign #HugHerMore, intending to encourage everyone to hug their moms more frequently. Sunfeast Mom’s Magic surveyed 321 participants across Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai in collaboration with Crownit to ascertain how hugging one’s mother has changed over the years.

Key highlights of the survey among the participants:

• The frequency of hugging their mom when they were a kid is now reduced by 31% for the Gen Zs and by 33% for the millennials. Students hug their mothers more than working professionals.

• Listening to music is the most common form of de-stressor, followed by watching content on over-the-top (OTT), and hugging mothers ranked third.

• Hugging one's child stands six times per week, the frequency of hugging a spouse is approximately five times per week, whereas hugging mothers is about three times a week.

• When the participants of the survey were asked how they felt upon hugging their mothers - more than 60% said that they felt a sense of comfort, mood upliftment, and happiness.

• The survey saw participation from age groups of 13 to 35, both males and females. The survey was further bifurcated into segments of students, working professionals, homemakers, and youngsters staying with and away from their parents.

Speaking about the survey and the social experiment campaign, Ali Harris Shere, chief operating officer, Biscuits & Cakes Cluster, Foods Division, ITC, said, "Hugging is an expression of love and is integral for bonding between a mother and her children. As we grow older and life catches up, physical closeness, with our moms significantly reduces. The gap just keeps increasing leading to loneliness for mothers as kids become more independent. As a purpose-driven brand, we have been vocalizing support and making everyday problems related to moms a conversation in the mainstream. The intent has always been to communicate that ‘Mothers are the warmest superpower’. This year, on behalf of the mothers we wanted to convey the message to all children that hugging mothers is healing and magical for both. Our campaign, #HugHerMore is aimed to encourage everyone to hug their moms more often. Our social experiment shows that hugging his mom gave a boost of happiness to the participant. As the New Year progresses, we should take a pledge to hug our mothers more just as we did when we were children."

Details of the Social Experiment:

ITC Sunfeast Mom’s Magic conducted a social experiment called 'The Happiness Hack Experiment' to understand the happiness level a person experiences when he hugs his mother. A brain tracking device was attached to the protagonist to measure the surge in happiness when he hugs his mother.

In the digital video created to showcase the two-day experiment, the protagonist is engaged in various activities: posting on social media, consuming social media content, chatting with a friend on a chat app, and hugging his mother. The maximum amount of happiness surge is tracked when the protagonist hugs his mother on the second day, giving an insight that the mother’s hug is indeed magical. Through the #HugHerMore campaign, ITC Sunfeast Mom’s Magic appeals to every Indian to take a pledge to hug their mother more and spend more time with her.

On the social experiment, Puneet Kapoor, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy South said - “We are constantly seeking newer ways of getting happiness rushes to overcome our busy and stressful lifestyles. And for this, we often turn to technology and screens. While tech can provide us with temporary spikes of happiness, true happiness always seems to be elusive. With our screen time going through the roof, it is time we turn to genuine human connections. It is time we turn to what I feel is the ultimate source of happiness, the source we came from – Our Moms. The idea was set up as a decoy experiment with tech being an ally. The social experiment reinforced the magical effect of a mom’s hug on the participant.”