Kiss Kringle' Visits Downtown Naperville With Portable Mistletoe Contraption

A Naperville native got national attention this past week with his mistletoe-kissing contraption, which is getting strangers to pucker up and give the self-described lovable dork a smooch this holiday season.

Good Morning America interviewed Blake Grigsby, who they referred to as “Kiss Kringle,” last week after the DePaul University cinema student posted a video recently shot with his mistletoe contraption at the Christkindlmarket.

The contraption is made up of a mistletoe strung to some PVC pipe, which is propped over his head. The video, as of Wednesday afternoon, had over 830,000 views.

“We love these positive videos. We love to do these kind of things that make other people really happy,” Grigsby told Good Morning. The Good Morning America segment aired over the weekend and can be found on the show’s website.

Grigsby also got a mention in People magazine this past week.

“While our mistletoe suitor gets turned down a few times, most of his smooch buddies walk away smiling,” People writes. And Buzzfeed picked up the story with this headline: “This Guy Kissed Hundreds Of Strangers After Building His Own Mistletoe Contraption.”

The national attention did not stop Grigsby from sharing the love locally. He brought his mistletoe kissing contraption to downtown Naperville Saturday to see what kind of reactions it would solicit.

Hey guys I’ll be downtown Naperville today with the kissing mistletoe contraption! See if you can find me. Be there till 2:00pm

— Blake Grigsby (@BlakeGrigsby) December 13, 2014

Naperville did not disappoint.

Grigsby got plenty of kisses from men and women -- but mostly women. All ages puckered up for Grigsby. A Starbucks barista even met him outside the downtown Naperville coffee shop to hand him a hot drink following a kiss on the cheek.

The full video from Grigsby’s visit to downtown Naperville can be viewed on the Downtown Naperville Facebook page.