Report: Colbert in Bed With Skippy Peanut Butter

Online ad industry sites are reporting that influentical talk show host Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report” may be cutting a deal with the makers of Skippy Peanut Butter that would put thousands of jars of peanut butter onto the shelves of local food banks nationwide and thrust Skippy –- a brand famous throughout the Sixties and Seventies -- once more back into the national spotlight.

The event would tie into the hugely successful “Free Hugs Movement” and seek to duplicate a highly successful event held by Kraft Peanut Butter in Toronto, Canada over the summer in which 10,382 jars of peanut butter were donated to local food shelves in the course of a single weekend through hugs given both at a local mall as well as online.

According to an online encyclopedia, the “Free Hugs Campaign” is a social movement involving individuals who offer hugs to strangers in public places. The campaign in its present form was started in 2004 by an Australian man known only by the pseudonym "Juan Mann." The campaign became famous internationally in 2006 as the result of a music video on YouTube by the Australian band Sick Puppies. The hugs are meant to be random acts of kindness - purportedly selfless acts performed by a person for the sole reason of making others feel better. Among its fans are CBS head Les Moonves, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, investors Warren Buffett and Ron Lauder, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“Free Hugs” days have been held on varying dates internationally; and free hugs campaigns online have drawn millions of participants through Facebook and Rupert Murdoch’s Myspace social networking sites. The demographics of the “Free Hugs” campaign skews heavily toward those age 18-34. Footage of "Juan Mann" walking through Sydney with a sign offering free hugs was posted on the internet and has been viewed 14 million hits. “Free Hugs” days have been held in France, China, England and across the U.S. In the past, several “Free Hugs” events have been held in front of the “Today Show” windows.

In the Canadian event, created by Edelman Public Relations, Kraft Peanut Butter Bears 'Smoothie' and 'Crunchy' as they share free hugs at Toronto’ s Ontario Place in an effort to put an end to hunger in the GTA.

Kraft had been interested in repeating the event in New York City, but ran into the talk show host’s stated aversion to bears, and so an alternative food company was brought in.

For each hug given, Kraft Peanut Butter donated one jar of Kraft Peanut Butter to Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank. Qualifying hugs could also be sent online through spreadthefeeling.ca.

“The ‘Spread the Feeling’ campaign invoked feelings of warmth, happiness, joy and laughter,” said a spokesperson. “Participants were encouraged to spread the feeling.”

Peanut butter is an important food product as it is a source of 5 essential nutrients. With approximately 34% of the 953,000 people who visited Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto the last year being children, peanut butter can help them by being a part of the balanced diet they require.

Skippy is a commercial brand of peanut butter made in the United States, and 90 million jars of Skippy are sold annually. All Skippy peanut butter is now produced in Little Rock, Arkansas. Skippy was first sold on February 1, 1933, and the “Hugs” event was being planned for that month, when food bank need by the poor is high and donations are down because the holidays are over.

"Skippy" was first used as a trademark for peanut butter by the Rosefield Packing Co., Ltd., of Alameda, California, in 1932. Percy Crosby, creator of the "Skippy" comic strip, had the trademark invalidated in 1934, but Rosefield persisted after Crosby was committed to an insane asylum, and its successor companies, most recently Unilever, have been granted rights to the trademark over the objection of Crosby's heirs.

In the last decade, Skippy has extended its brand by introducing Skippy "Squeez’ It" peanut butter tubes and Skippy Snack Bars. In the past, products have become famous through campaigns done by Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s Alex Bogusky.