Found this morning in my Inbox:
Subject: Two groundbreaking announcements about using body warmthBecause Feb’s Green Thing is about Using Body Warmth and turning your heating
down a bit or off a bit, this Valentine‘s Week you can take part in two daring
experiments in communal warmth and trust.
1) The world’s first global experiment in decentralized cuddling.
For five days between 10am – 6pm GMT this week, brave
Green Thing volunteers are turning their heating off and shivering like jellies
unless you send them a body-warming hug.
Just mosey over to hug.http://dothegreenthing.com and press the big, green HUG
button and see what happens. You can chat to them too – even make special
requests.
2) And if that wasn’t enough there’s also the world’s first Body Warmth Flash
Hug in Soho Square, W1 this Valentine’s Day lunchtime at 1.30pm.
The plan: turn the heating down or off for a bit in your homes or offices, come
to Soho Square at lunchtime, hug some beautiful people (or some of the Green
Thing team) then go back to your unheated homes and offices with a huge body
warmth boost. (Green nibbles like celery or apples may be provided).
Such a brilliant, zany idea. I can’t say enough about it.
La Marguerite 
Ever since the Beatles, an immense number of fun and creative things have been born in the UK. This sounds like a great initiative, and I’m all for it. If they need anyone named Huggins to act as a spokesperson, I hope they’ll let me know.
In the meantime, I noticed (in an e-mail this morning) that folks from Stanford have apparently given their support to the Science Debate. Great!
Cheers.
Oops. Upon reflecting, briefly, on my earlier post, I must say that the creative fun stuff from England began a long time before the Beatles. The Magna Carta, Le Morte D’Arthur, Shakespeare, Newton, Dickens, Darwin, and etc. form a pretty impressive list. That said, it’s probably correct to say that hugs themselves were invented in Africa or thereabouts. And, it’s probably also true that political sex scandals were invented before England, although England has probably had some of the most amusing.
I hope the English can help prompt us (US) to action regarding global warming, even if they have to poke some fun, which would certainly be warranted.
Thanks, Jeff, for a bit of history in British humor. I wish that British zaniness was not limited to PR efforts such as a the Soho Square initiative. Nothing beats traditional advertising for repetition and on going awareness and persuasion. Also, I am concerned about the big majority, who are not part of the green enthusiasts crowd. TV is best to reach those people.