Angus King celebrates addition of lobster emoji

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) is celebrating the upcoming addition of a lobster emoji for smartphone users after previously lobbying for its creation.

“Great news for Maine – we’re getting a lobster emoji!!!” King tweeted Wednesday. “Thanks to @unicode for recognizing the impact of this critical crustacean, in Maine and across the country.”

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.

Yours truly,

Senator

— Senator Angus King (@SenAngusKing) February 7, 2018

The Unicode Consortium, the group in charge of smartphone emojis, announced the addition of the 157 new emojis in 2018, including a lobster.

In our all-caps haste, we forgot to share the new lobster emoji. Tell your friends. pic.twitter.com/95BhzGC3cg

— Portland Press Herald (@PressHerald) February 7, 2018

King submitted a formal request to the group last year, stressing the economic and cultural importance of the lobster to Maine residents.

{mosads}“A new lobster emoji would fill a necessary and unique void in the current Emoji List, and, should it be added, appears destined for significant usage by lobster fans around the world,” King wrote in his request.

King supplied data from Google searches and Instagram hashtags indicating that searches for “lobster” and “lobster emoji” were higher than those for “crab,” arguably the icon most similar in shape and color.

“Neither the existing crab nor shrimp emoji can be effectively used to represent a lobster, which has a distinctively different profile,” he wrote.

The new emoji will likely appear on smartphones in the second half of 2018.