Thursday, November 5, 2015

Should Britain follow Finland's lead and get its own emojis?


Siobhan Smith, wow247.co.uk

Excerpt:

Finland’s Foreign Ministry has launched a set of national emojis, representing things that are typically associated with Finland.

Such as the headbanger, naked sauna goers and a Nokia 3310. Obvious, really.
In total, more than 30 icons will be available in what is billed as being a “world first”.
“We have been anything but serious when creating these emojis,” said Petra Theman, Director of Public Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry. “Hopefully they will open up not only our weirdness but also our strengths of which unarming honesty is one example.”
The first three emojis have been revealed as a teaser of what’s to come and the promotional site explains:
“Feel like banging your head a little? Naturally after a crazy headbangers’ ball you just want to throw your (unbreakable) phone away, take your clothes off and go to sauna and relax?  You must be a Finn (or a very Finn-like person) then!”
Yes, Finland.

So, here are the emojis so far…

The headbanger pays tribute to the Finnish love of heavy metal. The text beside the icon on the site reads: “It is dark in Finland and so is the music. There’s a small headbanger living inside of each Finn.”
headbanger-emoji
We also have the naked couple in a sauna. The promotional text reads: “The Sauna. Doesn’t need introducing. Sauna is as Finnish as it gets. Naked.”
sauna-emoji
And, finally, we have the Nokia 3310 aka ‘The Unbreakable’ which is representative of the Finnish tough personality. The site explains: “The legendary Nokia 3310 is one of the highest selling mobile phones of all times. The phone was designed in Finland and it is known for its toughness.”
phone-emoji
Most of Britain’s legendary inventions already exist as worldwide emojis, in the form of the telephone, the television and even (possibly) penicillin (go, UK).

However, there are endless things that symbolise Britain and what it means to be British. From Beefeaters to Buckfast, there’s plenty to choose from. We’re not quite sure how you would go about creating a stiff upper lip emoji, but it’s certainly worth a shot.

We would love to see some national icons, but what do you think? ...

No comments: