Lobster emoji coming to smartphones this summer thanks to Maine senator

Lobbying for a lobster emoji has finally paid off for U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), whose letter convinced California-based emoji developer Unicode Consortium to add the popular crustacean to its growing textbox library. 

Sent in September 2017, King’s letter detailed lobster’s cultural and economic value to Maine and beyond.

“People in Maine – as well as others across the world – understand that the lobster is a culturally and economically important animal,” King wrote.  

“We can expect frequent usage of a lobster emoji,” he added. 

On Wednesday, 7 February, the Unicode Consortium revealed that it would be including a lobster emoji in an upcoming wave of updates scheduled for June, a move that King called “great news” via Twitter.

“Great news for Maine - we're getting a lobster emoji!!! Thanks to @unicode for recognizing the impact of this critical crustacean, in Maine and across the country,” the senator tweeted on Wednesday, signing the communication with a cow emoji for Angus and a crown emoji for King.    

King was one of many vying for a lobster emoji over the past year. New York-headquartered restaurant company Luke’s Lobster made a splash last August with an online petition through Change.org to have the lobster graphic added to texting toolboxes. A hashtag campaign decrying the lack of a lobster emoji, #NoLobsterEmoji, also picked up steam last year across social media channels. 

“The emoji sea is filled with crab, shrimp, octopus, squid, whale, spouting whale, blowfish (?) and even non-fish-human-deep-sea-diver! And out of the water, shrimp gets extra love with tempura! There is a large void in the shape of our favorite Maine lobster,” Luke’s Lobster wrote in its 2017 petition, which has garnered nearly 5,500 signatures as of 8 February, 2018.   

The Unicode Consortium will release 156 new emojis alongside the lobster in June, including a pirate flag, a softball, a female superhero and a mosquito, CNN reported.  

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