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Maine Senator Angus King really wants this emoji added to smartphones
Maine Sen. Angus King submitted a petition Friday for a lobster emoji to be created for smartphones in 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Maine Senator Angus King really wants this emoji added to smartphones

One senator from Maine potentially held the future of American health care in her hands. The other was busy lobbying for a lobster emoji to be added to smartphone keyboards.

As the political world wondered and debated whether Sen. Susan Collins would support the Graham-Cassidy health care bill (she said no Monday), independent Sen. Angus King was submitting a request Friday to the Unicode Consortium, the group in charge of smartphone emojis.

After all, Monday was National Lobster Day.

The case for a lobster emoji

From the official request:

  • “The members of the Unicode Technical Committee know better than most that emoji have become an increasingly important medium for communication, and that individuals and businesses have benefited from being able to use a growing set of emoji options. And people in Maine — as well as others across the world — understand that the lobster is a culturally  and economically important animal."
  • “I respectfully request that the UTC include the Draft Candidate lobster emoji in Unicode Version 11.0, so that people who fish, process, serve, eat or otherwise admire the lobster can accurately express themselves in emoji form.”

  • “…lobster has been featured in internationally recognized TV shows and pop songs”

  • “…it would complete a set of emoji representing crustaceans commonly consumed as food items, and it would respond to significant public demand.”

The proposal also cited Google search statistics and Instagram hashtag usage rates as evidence of the growing demand for a lobster emoji.

When will we know the result?

The alleged thousands of people clamoring for a lobster emoji will find out after Unicode's October meeting whether the lobster emoji will be available in 2018.

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