Itchy, watery, sneezy allergy emoji seeking official status

There are emojis to depict virtually every emotion we experience. But, until recently, those who suffer from allergies couldn’t use one to show how they were feeling.

There’s now an online petition on Change.org pushing an official “allergy emoji.”

“The eyes are watering, it’s sniffling, it looks like it hasn’t gotten a good night’s rest in a while,” pharmacist Victor Wong said, describing the emoji. “All the pollen and everything is surrounding it.

“I would say it’s a very accurate representation of the patients we see in the pharmacy this time of year.”

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The makers of Reactine Canada are spearheading this campaign. They started the online petition in the hopes of beefing up their application to the non-profit corporation that approves emojis.

“There is a group called the Unico Consortium and they standardize all the texts and symbols and emojis that are available for everyone to use,” Wong explained. “An application has been submitted but we still need more people to sign up and vouch for this.”

READ MORE: Love Edmonton and emojis? Say hello to Edmonton-inspired EDMOjis 

According to the petition post, about 40 per cent of Canadians (16 million people) suffer from seasonal or year-round allergies.

“Do you despise dust and dander?” the petition site asks. “Do you cry around kittens? Do you recoil from ragweed? Are you petrified of pollen? Have you had it with hay fever?

“Are you sick of explaining that it’s not a cold, it’s allergies? You are not alone.”

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Anyone who wants to see this proposed emoji become reality is asked to add their name to the petition and share a message on social media using the hashtag #AllergyFeels. As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition had nearly 1,500 names.

READ MORE: Why your allergy symptoms feel so severe this year in southern Alberta 

According to Wong, emojis have become like a second language to many of us.

“People are using Twitter, people are using Instagram, people are using other channels like WhatsApp,” Wong said. “This is just another way to really educate people and allow people to express themselves.

“Allergies hit in spring, summer and fall and this is a fun way to tell people,” Wong said. “Allergy sufferers everywhere can express themselves in terms of how they’re feeling.”

The Unicode Consortium confirmed it had received a formal submission for this emoji design. Typically, it announces the new releases in February, Apple previews those in June and rolls them out in the fall.