If you’re a white wine drinker like me, at some point you would’ve scrolled through the food section of your emojis in search of a glass of white wine only to settle on a glass of red wine. Believe it or not, there’s a petition to introduce a white wine emoji but unfortunately, it’s not happening just yet.

What Happened?

In May 2018, one of the top wine sellers in the United States, the Kendall-Jackson Winery, submitted a 19-page proposal to the Unicode Technical Committee (UTC) to request the addition of an emoji that represents white wine. The proposal has been submitted three times since May 2018 and in July 2019, was rejected once more at the UTC’s quarterly meeting.

Who is the Unicode Technical Committee (UTC)?

The UTC is responsible for the development and maintenance of the Unicode Standard. The Unicode Standard is a character coding system designed to support the worldwide interchange, processing, and display of the written texts of the diverse languages and technical disciplines of the modern world.

Essentially, they’re in charge of making sure that the right characters, including emojis, are included in platform code around the world. They are constantly working to ensure that not only new characters are explored but that classical and historical text of all written languages are represented.

Why is Kendall-Jackson Winery Involved?

The Kendall-Jackson Winery feel strongly that emojis are a form of visual slang in modern society. Maggie Curry, the Marketing Director at the winery who is leading the charge believes that the use of emojis are an integral part of communicating on the social web.

“As emojis gain popularity in a digital space, we will need to make sure all the tools are available to fully communicate around wine, and the white wine emoji is a missing piece of the modern communication Zeitgeist.” – Maggie Curry (Marketing Director at Kendall-Jackson)

What is the Proposal About Exactly?

The white wine emoji proposal is publicly accessible to read on the Unicode website. Among other things, the proposal details what the emoji would look like, expected usage level as well as consumer data to validate why there is ‘a need’ for a white wine emoji.

The proposal is rather comprehensive, even taking into account what has been expressed on social media, particularly Instagram and Twitter. A quick search on Twitter shows that several people long for a white wine emoji.

https://twitter.com/WineFolly/status/1151564993067962368

https://twitter.com/imjennim/status/912864285495255040

Despite the evidence presented, Unicode has rejected the proposal but indicated that they will keep it in consideration. A main concern from the UTC is that it would lead to conversations about adding other beverage colours such as rosé and darker and lighter beers.

But it’s not over just yet – while the UTC has indicated that there is no immediate plan to update the food emojis, it doesn’t mean that there will never be an emoji for white wine. Kendall-Jackson Winery isn’t giving up after seeing the support from the public and will continue to spearhead the movement.

“The white wine emoji effort has garnered enthusiasm from around the globe, and we continue to refine our proposal to support the white wine emoji” – Maggie Curry

Is This All Ridiculous?

While some might believe this is a silly initiative, what I really appreciate is that the proposal actually used Google search trends and social listening to validate their initiative. As much as #WhiteWineEmoji may be great publicity for Kendall-Jackson Winery, the data shows that people have noticed the gap and are constantly asking for the emoji to be added.

For consumers, it would give them more freedom to express themselves online and for wineries and wine brands, it would allow them to represent their products in a more accurate way.

“With emojis, we’re able to make an entire statement that can be understood regardless of spoken language.” – Michelle Kaufmann (Stoller Wine Group Communications Director)

How You Can You Get Involved

White Wine Emoji wantedKendall-Jackson Winery has created a website specifically for this drive and has introduced #WhiteWineEmoji to build awareness on social media. The site aims to educate people about the initiative, keep supporters updated on progress and get consumers and partners to join the cause.

White Wine Lovers:

Visit the website to sign the petition and get involved by using #WhiteWineEmoji on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest.

Wineries:

Show your support by joining the cause. Instagram, in particular, is a highly visual platform. The addition of a white wine emoji could lend itself to consumers advertising your chardonnay or riesling in a more eye-catching way.

While some say the #WhiteWineEmoji initiative is laughable, I would personally find the emoji useful. The fact that it wasn’t initially partnered with the red wine glass is bewildering. Let’s hope that enough of us band together to back Kendall-Jackson Winery to convince Unicode to make the addition soon.

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