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Who knew a simple hug could envelop so much controversy?

When Liberal MP Bob Rae greeted his old friend and parliamentary colleague Michael Ignatieff with a hug on Monday, the gesture was met with shock, suspicion and some raised eyebrows.

Was the embrace a snide symbol of his allegiance to the deputy leader of the Liberal Party and an intentional slight against Leader Stéphane Dion?

Or was the warm, if somewhat awkward, encounter simply a laying down of arms, so to speak; a way to melt the iciness that has existed between the men since they both ran to lead their political party?

“That was quite spontaneous,” Mr. Rae told CTV's Canada AM. “Mr. Ignatieff and I are old friends. We were roommates together, we've been through a lot together, our families are old friends, so it was quite a spontaneous gesture.”

But is a hug ever just a hug?

From HBO's hit television show Entourage to the U.S. presidential primaries, hugs seem to have more meaning to most people than just a simple act of warmth.

“Hug it out” became a pop culture catchphrase after it was regularly uttered by Ari Gold, the fast-talking agent played by Jeremy Piven on Entourage.

The expression was used whenever the character wanted to end an argument and make a public show of solidarity – even if the fight was to continue later, in private.

And public hugs have had disastrous results for some very real individuals.

There is the infamous photograph of former U.S. president Bill Clinton embracing White House intern Monica Lewinsky at a public rally, before their affair was made public.

A year ago, actor Richard Gere was forced to apologize and was briefly charged with public obscenity in India after hugging Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty.

At the Oscars this year, actor Gary Busey was shown on live TV hugging actresses Jennifer Garner and Laura Linney, who were both clearly terrified.

“I simply greeted both actresses with joy and open arms, which is the way I would greet anyone I'm happy to meet,” Mr. Busey said afterward. “Everyone has experienced a handshake or hug which has turned awkward, and this was no different.”

But hugs can also provide more positive public reactions.

A new book by Jack Mitchell, chief executive officer of a successful U.S. clothing company, called Hug Your People: The Proven Way to Hire, Inspire, and Recognize Your Employees and Achieve Remarkable Results, suggests that embracing people is an effective demonstration of leadership.

The idea seems to have worked occasionally for U.S. President George W. Bush. The politician hugs people so often that there is a blog dedicated to images of his embraces (BushHugBlog.com), and The Washington Post ran an article last fall under the headline: “Bush the Embracer: Interpreting the Presidential Hug.”

“The gesture suggested strength, solidarity, compassion,” wrote Post reporter Paul Farhi, referring to an image of the President hugging a victim of the California wildfires last year.

The paper reported that in the previous six months, the President had hugged “hundreds of people in public” from the families of dead firefighters to the jockey who won the Kentucky Derby.

But photos of Mr. Bush's embraces have also occasionally been used against the objects of his affection by their political rivals.

Pictures of the President hugging Democrats such as senators Joe Lieberman and Tom Daschle were held out as evidence of their failed liberal credentials.

And his public embrace of current Republican presidential front-runner John McCain in 2004 has been repeatedly used to suggest that the Arizona senator is not the maverick he makes himself out to be.

As for the hug between Mr. Rae and his former rival, the exchange seems to have had the biggest impact on Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“I'm still trying to recover from the shows of affection over there,” he said after the hug.

But that's from a man who was once photographed shaking hands with his own kids.