The feel-good Petal It Forward campaign builds on SAF research showing that 80 percent of people said flowers make them happy; 88 percent said giving flowers makes them happy.

Taxi drivers, food vendors, law enforcement officers and everyday Americans heading to work were among the thousands of people who received flowers in New York this morning.

Capitalizing on the popular “pay-it forward” initiatives and random acts of kindness, the Society of American Florists’ flower street team of enthusiastic “happiness ambassadors,” including employees from Starbright Floral Design in New York City, hit the streets of midtown Manhattan with 4,400 bouquets to surprise busy commuters with flowers and provide them with two bouquets — one to keep and one to “Petal It Forward” to a friend, loved one, co-worker or even a complete stranger.

“It was an incredible morning illustrating the Rutgers University research that flowers create true delight and enjoyment,” said Jennifer Sparks, SAF’s vice president of marketing. “As much as people were thrilled to get flowers, being able to experience giving flowers to someone else, excited them even more.”

SAF “happiness ambassadors,” including employees from Starbright Floral Design, handed out 4,400 Petal It Forward bouquets in New York City this morning.

Sparks added that this plays out the statistics from SAF’s 2015 omnibus research, which showed that while 80 percent of people said flowers make them happy, even more, 88 percent said that giving flowers makes them happy.

Spreading the positive message about flowers, through the unique strategy behind the “keep one, give one” giveaway, as well as generating traditional news coverage and social media buzz, is the goal of SAF’s Petal It Forward campaign. SAF’s ‘happiness ambassadors’ encouraged bouquet recipients to share their experiences on social media with the hashtag #petalitforward, and SAF is sharing photos on its consumer channels including Instagram @about_flowers, Twitter @flowerfactor, Facebook @aboutflowers. Thanks to funding from Asocolflores, SAF is implementing a strategic social media plan on all of SAF’s consumer channels, with paid promoted posts on Facebook and Instagram to take the Petal It Forward message viral, reaching far beyond the recipients of today’s flowers.

One of the messages shared as SAF handed out Petal It Forward bouquets: “Flowers are scientifically proven to make people happy.”

SAF’s New York City event headlined a nationwide effort that included 256 local Petal It Forward events in more than 225 cities in all 50 states on Oct. 19.

“There were a whole lot of people smiling across the country today, thanks to the efforts of hundreds of floral industry businesses,” Sparks said.

“We are thrilled by the outpouring of enthusiasm by industry members to join us by holding their own local events on the same day to make Petal It Forward truly a nationwide event.”

SAF will report on the local events next week in E-brief, as well as preliminary media results from its New York City event.

This is the second year of SAF’s Petal It Forward program. In 2015, SAF’s Petal It Forward campaign generated more than 212 million consumer impressions through traditional media coverage and 1.2 million social media impressions, and

garnered participation from industry members in 44 cities in 27 states.

Taxi drivers, food vendors, law enforcement officers and everyday Americans heading to work were among the thousands of people who received flowers in New York.

“Petal It Forward is important because all aspects of the industry can help each other out to create a nationwide positive campaign,” said Ben Dobbe, COO of Holland America Flowers in Arroyo Grande, California, who donated flowers and assembled the 4,400 bouquets that were given out at the Nw York City event.

“This is a win-win for growers, wholesalers and retailers but, more importunately, it is a win for creating positive buzz around flowers to the communities that we can reach.”

Longtime PR Fund supporter, Delaware Valley Floral Group in Sewell, New Jersey, provided transportation of the flowers from Holland America Flowers’ bouquet assembly facility and coordinated delivery of the flowers on site at the New York City event.

“Only by leveraging many companies throughout the entire industry supply chain could an event the size and scope of Petal It Forward be pulled off,” said Ken Wilkins, DVFG’s VP of Business Development. “We are delighted and honored to participate with the hundreds of other flower companies.”

SAF also thanks the following companies for providing product donations, shipping and other support for its New York City event:

• Asocolflores
• Dramm & Echter
• Dos Gringos
• Mellano & Company
• Floral Trade Distributors
• Flores El Capiro
• Smithers-Oasis
• Starbright Floral Design

The planning, media relations, overall promotion of the Petal It Forward event, and the online tools and advice offered to local participants, is a direct result of the SAF Fund for Nationwide Public Relations, which encompasses a percentage of retail dues and voluntary contributions by forward-thinking companies.

The “SAF’s strategic public relations programs to promote flowers would not be possible without the continuous support of the wholesalers, growers, importers and suppliers who contribute to the SAF PR Fund year after year,” Sparks said. “We can’t thank them enough.”

For a list of SAF PR Fund supporters, go here. If your supplier is on this list, please thank them for their leadership in industry promotion.

To see images SAF is sharing on its consumer channels on Instagram @about_flowers.