Paella emoticon goes live on mobile networks
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 @ 9:45 AM
A SPOOF campaign which became earnest when a national rice manufacturer took it up has won the day: from this month, all modern mobile phones will be able to produce a paella emoticon.
And a last-minute change to the emoticon 'dictionary' was made to ensure the paella symbol did not reflect a Jamie Oliver version with chorizo sausage – a recipe the British celebrity chef got so much backlash for that the UK ambassador for Spain, Simon Manly, had to get involved.
The new emoticon shows chicken legs, runner beans and butterbeans, relfecting the traditional format of Valencian paella.
Started by stand-up comedian Eugeni Alemany, the campaign was soon joined by the rice brand La Fallera and, together, they gave their quest so much publicity that it ended up convincing the main communcations platforms such as Twitter, Google, Microsoft and Samsung.
Using the hashtag #PaellaEmoji, the campaigners were given the thumbs-up in May and networks have gradually been introducing the new design into their systems.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com