Keen observes of the growing fruit emoji trend will notice a glaring omission from the range of icons they can select from. Mangoes, the so-called “king of fruits’’ in some parts of the world, have been left off the list.
This could all be about to change thanks to the Australian Mango Industry Association, who have launched a social media campaign calling for the world’s first mango emoji to be introduced.
The peak industry body started its #MangoEmojiPlease push earlier this month by sharing a video on its consumer facing Aussie Mangoes Facebook page. The video has already reached 53,005 people and received over 1,000 likes and reactions as of late September. An image posted on the Aussie Mangoes Instagram account is also gaining traction, with well over 100 likes.
It’s not just consumers who are joining in on the action. Leading Australian retailer Woolworths have backed the campaign by tweeting #MangoEmojiPlease to their 15,000 followers, while frozen foodcompany, Weis, shared the launch post with their Facebook community of 42,000 people.
The power of the emoji, pictorial typographical characters commonly used to add expressions in written digital communications, has not been understated by the fresh produce industry. A number of companines, including kiwifruit marketer Zespri and industry body USA Pears, have already moved to become official sponsors of their own relevant emoji icons, seemingly in a bid to raise awareness of their products.
