World Emoji Day

Summary

World Emoji Day is an annual unofficial holiday occurring on 17 July each year, intended to celebrate emoji; in the years since the earliest observance, it has become a popular date to make product or other announcements and releases relating to emoji.[1][2][3][4][5]

World Emoji Day
The Unicode character U+1F4C6 📆 TEAR-OFF CALENDAR in the Noto font
TypeUnofficial international holiday
Date17 July
Next time17 July 2024 (2024-07-17)
FrequencyAnnual or yearly
First time17 July 2014; 9 years ago (2014-07-17)

Origins and celebrations edit

The date originally referred to the day Apple premiered its iCal calendar application in 2002. The day, July 17, was displayed on the Apple Color Emoji version of the calendar emoji (📅) as an Easter egg.[6][7]

World Emoji Day was created on 17 July 2014 by Jeremy Burge, the founder of Emojipedia.[8][9][10][11]

The New York Times reported that Burge chose 17 July "based on the way the calendar emoji is shown on iPhones".[12] For the first World Emoji Day, Burge told The Independent "there were no formal plans put in place"[13] other than choosing the date. The Washington Post suggested in 2018 that readers use this day to "communicate with only emoji".[14]

NBC reported that the day was Twitter's top trending item on 17 July in 2015.[15]

In 2016, Google changed the appearance of Unicode character U+1F4C5 📅 CALENDAR[16] to display 17 July on Android, Gmail, Hangouts, and ChromeOS products.[17] As of 2020, all major platforms except Microsoft had switched to show 17 July on this emoji, to avoid confusion on World Emoji Day.[18]

The most recent World Emoji Day was World Emoji Day 2023, which occurred on 17 July 2023. The next World Emoji Day will be World Emoji Day 2024, scheduled to occur on 17 July 2024, while the previous World Emoji Day was World Emoji Day 2022, which occurred on 17 July 2022.

Announcements edit

Since 2017, Apple has used each World Emoji Day to announce upcoming expansions to the range of emojis on iOS.[19][20][21][22][23]

On World Emoji Day 2015, Pepsi launched PepsiMoji which included an emoji keyboard and custom World Emoji Day Pepsi cans and bottles.[24] These were initially released in Canada and expanded to 100 markets in 2016.[25]

In 2016, Sony Pictures Animation used World Emoji Day to announce T.J. Miller as the first cast member for The Emoji Movie,[26] Google released "a series of new emoji that are more inclusive of women from diverse backgrounds",[27] and Emojipedia launched the first World Emoji Awards.[28] Other World Emoji Day announcements in 2016 came from Disney,[29] General Electric, Twitter, and Coca-Cola.[30][31]

London's Royal Opera House presented 20 operas and ballets in emoji form,[32] Google announced the end of its blob emoji[33] and winners of the World Emoji Awards[34] were announced[35] from the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange and broadcast on Cheddar.[36]

In 2018, Kim Kardashian released her Kimoji fragrance line on World Emoji Day,[37][38] Apple previewed new emoji designs including redheads[39][40] and replaced executive photos on its corporate leadership page with emojis,[41] Google announced the return of "blob emojis" in sticker form,[42] and Facebook announced that "700 million emojis are used in Facebook posts each day".[41]

On World Emoji Day 2019, the award for Most Popular New Emoji was announced[43] as the Smiling Face With Hearts[44] In 2020 the Most Popular New Emoji was announced as the White Heart[45] on Australia's The Morning Show.[46][47]

Microsoft used World Emoji Day in 2021 to preview[48] an overhaul to the Windows emoji set using the Fluent Design System for the first time.[49] Facebook used World Emoji Day 2021 to announce Soundmojis,[50] Google unveiled a solution for faster emoji updates on Android,[51] and Emojipedia revealed sample images for the latest emoji draft list.[52][53]

Events edit

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Andrew Rannells and Olivia Palermo attended the Pepsi World Emoji Day Red Carpet event in 2016.[54][55] In 2017, Paula Abdul, Maya Rudolph, Liam Aiken, Jeremy Burge and Fern Mallis at the Saks Fifth Avenue red carpet on World Emoji Day.[56][57]

The Empire State Building was lit in "emoji yellow" for World Emoji Day in 2017,[58][32] and the New York Stock Exchange Closing Bell was rung by Jake T. Austin of The Emoji Movie and Jeremy Burge from Emojipedia.[59] A Guinness World Record was attempted in Dubai on World Emoji Day in 2017 for the "largest gathering of people dressed as emojis".[60]

Musical Emojiland premiered off-broadway in New York City at The Acorn Theatre[61] on World Emoji Day 2018[62] as part of the New York Musical Festival.[63][64]

In 2019, the British Library hosted an event on World Emoji Day with Unicode president Mark Davis and Emojipedia founder Jeremy Burge discussing the future of emoji and the National Museum of Cinema in Turin launched[65] the exhibition #FacceEmozioni 1500–2020: From Physiognomy to Emojis[66] also on July 17.[67]

On 17 July 2022, millions of people in multiple different countries across the whole world, including Japan and the United States, celebrated World Emoji Day 2022 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.[citation needed]

World Emoji Day edition dates edit

Pre-2022 (2014–21) edit

Edition number Date Also known as Day of the week
1st 17 July 2014 World Emoji Day 2014 Thursday
2nd 17 July 2015 World Emoji Day 2015 Friday
3rd 17 July 2016 World Emoji Day 2016 Sunday
4th 17 July 2017 World Emoji Day 2017 Monday
5th 17 July 2018 World Emoji Day 2018 Tuesday
6th 17 July 2019 World Emoji Day 2019 Wednesday
7th 17 July 2020 World Emoji Day 2020 Friday
8th 17 July 2021 World Emoji Day 2021 Saturday

2022 and beyond edit

Edition number Date Also known as Day of the week
9th 17 July 2022 World Emoji Day 2022 Sunday
10th 17 July 2023 World Emoji Day 2023 Monday
11th 17 July 2024 World Emoji Day 2024 Wednesday
12th 17 July 2025 World Emoji Day 2025 Thursday
13th 17 July 2026 World Emoji Day 2026 Friday
14th 17 July 2027 World Emoji Day 2027 Saturday
15th 17 July 2028 World Emoji Day 2028 Monday
16th 17 July 2029 World Emoji Day 2029 Tuesday
17th 17 July 2030 World Emoji Day 2030 Wednesday

In the news edit

In 2016, Twitter noted that Australia's "emoji-loving" Foreign Minister Julie Bishop[68] shared her birthday with World Emoji Day.[69][70][71]

In 2017, US House Speaker Paul Ryan released a video on World Emoji Day claiming he "goes crazy on emojis"[72] which was widely criticized.[73][74]

In 2018, Adweek reported that social media posts from the United States Department of Defense, Army and Navy seemed like "an odd fit for the breezy joys" of World Emoji Day,[75] while other outlets called these "a series of bleached, seemingly nothing tweets filled with a bunch of random emojis" and "the most terrible bastardization of an emoji".[76][77]

In 2021, Tourism New Zealand used World Emoji Day to promote the concept of a kiwi emoji.[78]

References edit

  1. ^ Mastroianni, Brian (15 July 2016). "For World Emoji Day, Twitter reveals the most popular emoji around the globe". CBS News. Archived from the original on 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  2. ^ Kurosawa, Susan. "Just one day at a time". The Australian. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Twitter reveals Canada's favourite emojis in honour of World Emoji Day | Toronto Star". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 10 November 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  4. ^ Whitbread, Louise (17 July 2020). "Celebrate World Emoji Day with these gifts, from smileys to cheeky peaches". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  5. ^ Hitt, Tarpley (17 July 2020). "The Inventor of the Emoticon Tells All: 'I've Created a Virus'". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  6. ^ "7 Emoji Facts to Help You Celebrate World Emoji Day". Time. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  7. ^ "World Emoji Day: Why It's on July 17". NBC New York. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  8. ^ David, Javier (17 July 2016). "World Emoji Day finds its place on a packed calendar of holidays". CNBC.
  9. ^ O'Neill Deighan, Emma (17 July 2015). "It's World Emoji Day, how will you celebrate?". Belfast Live. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  10. ^ "World Emoji Day 2023: Date, history, significance and celebration". Hindustan Times. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  11. ^ Deighan, Emma O'Neill (17 July 2015). "It's World Emoji Day, how will you celebrate?". BelfastLive. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  12. ^ Varn, Kathryn (25 April 2016). "Letting Our Emojis Get in the Way". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  13. ^ Griffin, Andrew (17 July 2016). "World Emoji Day: Meet the man whose life work is cataloguing emoji". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  14. ^ Barron, Christina (1 January 2018). "Mark your 2018 calendar with these fun and funny holidays". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  15. ^ "World Emoji Day: Why It's on July 17". WNBC. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Calendar Emoji". Emojipedia. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  17. ^ "Android 7.1 Emoji Changelog". Emojipedia. 21 October 2016. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  18. ^ "July 17 is World Emoji Day Everywhere Now". Emojipedia. 15 July 2020. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  19. ^ Salam, Maya (17 July 2017). "Meet Apple's New Emojis: Zombies, Hijabs and Sandwiches Included". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  20. ^ Hern, Alex (17 July 2017). "Apple marks World Emoji Day with beards, headscarves and breastfeeding". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  21. ^ "Apple celebrates World Emoji Day". Apple Newsroom. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  22. ^ "Apple offers a look at new emoji coming to iPhone this fall". Apple Newsroom. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  23. ^ Burge, Jeremy (16 July 2020). "First Look: New Emojis Coming to iOS in 2020". Emojipedia. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  24. ^ Fera, Rae Ann. "Pepsi Celebrates World Emoji Day With More Emoji". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  25. ^ Nudd, Tim Ann. "Pepsi Is About to Unleash Emojis on Its Bottles and Cans Globally This Summer". Adweek. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  26. ^ Sony Pictures Animation (17 July 2016). "Emoji Movie: Express Yourself – T.J. Miller Audition". Twitter. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  27. ^ Mastroianni, Brian. "Powerful women welcome new female emoji". CBS News. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  28. ^ World Emoji Awards (18 July 2016). "Winner of Best New Emoji for 2016". Twitter. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  29. ^ Kimm, Matt (17 July 2016). "Google Celebrates World Emoji Day With Gender Diversity". Inverse. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  30. ^ Romano, Nick. "World Emoji Day: Zootopia emoji video, more celebrate Internet holiday". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  31. ^ McCarthy, John. "How brands marked #WorldEmojiDay on Twitter". The Drum. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  32. ^ a b "Emojis honoured in world celebration". BBC News. 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 17 July 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  33. ^ "Emojipedia founder talks the past, present and future of emoji". Engadget. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  34. ^ BWW News Desk. "Winners of World Emoji Awards to be Announced on World Emoji Day". Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  35. ^ "Congratulations to Person Facepalming! Winner of Best New Emoji". World Emoji Awards. 18 July 2017. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  36. ^ Starnes, Anna (16 July 2017). "It's World Emoji day tomorrow and you can vote for your favourite". Cambridge News. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  37. ^ "What Kim Kardashian's New KKW Fragrance Kimoji Perfumes Really Smell Like". 17 July 2018. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  38. ^ Schmidt, Ingrid. "Kim Kardashian West Talks Her First KKW Beauty Store Opening in L.A., Political Activism and More". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  39. ^ "Bald and ginger among Apple's new emojis". BBC News. 17 July 2018. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  40. ^ Kelly, Heather. "Redheads, lobsters and cupcakes: Apple shows off new iOS emojis". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  41. ^ a b "July 17 Is World Emoji Day. Here's How (And Why) to Celebrate". Fortune. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  42. ^ "Blowing Kiss Beats Heart-Eyes in New Google Stats". Emojipedia. 17 July 2018. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  43. ^ "World Emoji Award Winner" (in Italian). National Museum of Cinema. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  44. ^ "Most Popular New Emoji". World Emoji Awards. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  45. ^ "Most Popular New Emoji". World Emoji Awards. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  46. ^ "Most popular new emojis revealed for World Emoji Day". Seven News. 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  47. ^ Jeremy Burge & The Year's Top 3 Emoji!, retrieved 10 August 2020
  48. ^ Design, Microsoft (15 July 2021). "Emotionality at work". Medium. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  49. ^ "New Fluent Emoji Designs From Microsoft". Emojipedia. 15 July 2021. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  50. ^ "🔊 Introducing Soundmojis on Messenger for 🌎 Emoji Day 🥳". About Facebook. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  51. ^ Broni, Keith (16 July 2021). "Faster Emoji Updates on the way for Android Apps". Emojipedia. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  52. ^ Voorhees, John (15 July 2021). "Emojipedia Publishes Renderings of Draft Emoji". Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  53. ^ Hern, Alex (16 July 2021). "Pregnant man and multiracial handshake emojis unveiled before launch". the Guardian. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  54. ^ "Pepsi Celebrates World Emoji Day". Times Square Chronicles. 15 July 2016. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  55. ^ "*Heart Eyes* and More—Celebrities Share Their Favorite Emojis Ahead of World Emoji Day". InStyle.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  56. ^ "Saks Fifth Avenue x The Emoji Movie". newyorkstyleguide.com. 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  57. ^ Lockwood, Lisa (18 July 2017). "Saks Fifth Avenue, Sony team up for 'The Emoji Movie' merchandise". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  58. ^ Sequin, Molly (17 July 2017). "The Empire State Building will light up 'emoji yellow' for World Emoji Day". Mashable. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  59. ^ "Sony's The Emoji Movie Rings the NYSE Closing Bell". New York Stock Exchange. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  60. ^ "This weekend Dubai Mall is going to be filled with people dressed as Emojis. Yes, really..." What's On Dubai. 11 July 2017. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  61. ^ Miller, Deb (20 July 2018). "2018 New York Musical Festival Review: 'Emojiland' at The Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row". DC Metro Theater Arts. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  62. ^ Collins-Hughes, Laura (22 July 2018). "'Emojiland' and a Graceful Elegy at the New York Musical Festival". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  63. ^ "Hold onto your hats emoji fans: There's going to be an emoji musical". 20 June 2018. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  64. ^ Velazco, Chris. "'Emojiland' blends musical theater and existential angst". Engadget. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  65. ^ "#FacceEmozioni. 1500–2020: from physiognomy to emojis". The National Museum of Cinema. 21 June 2019. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  66. ^ Adaglio, Giuliano (17 July 2019). "If Emotions Are "Smilies"". La Stampa. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019. Alt URL Archived 14 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  67. ^ Dael72, Da (18 July 2019). "#FacceEmozioni: a Torino la storia delle espressioni facciali, da Lombroso agli emoji". dael72 (in Italian). Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  68. ^ Markson, Sharri (8 June 2015). "A Julie and Hugh affair". The Australian. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  69. ^ Stocks, Karen (16 July 2015). "Add a little colour to your Tweets on #WorldEmojiDay". Twitter. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  70. ^ "Julie Bishop celebrates World Emoji Day". Australia: ABC News. 17 July 2016. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  71. ^ Kimmorley, Sarah (17 July 2015). "#WorldEmojiDay is on the same day as emoji fan Julie Bishop's birthday". Business Insider Australia. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  72. ^ "Paul Ryan Joins the #WorldEmojiDay Fun: 'I Go Crazy on Emojis'". Mediaite. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  73. ^ Moran, Lee (18 July 2017). "Paul Ryan's Attempt At Being A Relatable 'Emoji Guy' Backfires". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  74. ^ Koerber, Brian. "Paul Ryan tried to be #relatable on emoji day and it did not go well at all". Mashable. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  75. ^ "World Emoji Day: Check Out the Most Odd and Clever Ways It's Being Celebrated". Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  76. ^ Wyrich, Andrew (17 July 2018). "Which U.S. military branch had the worst World Emoji Day tweet?". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  77. ^ Sung, Morgan. "Here are the worst tweets of World Emoji Day". Mashable. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  78. ^ Hawkes, Colleen (17 July 2021). "Pure New Zealand offers up a cute Kiwi emoji for World Emoji Day". Stuff. Retrieved 30 July 2021.

External links edit

  • Official website  
  • Calendar Emoji