Allergy Emoji Proposed by Allergy Relief Brand Reactine
Canadian allergy relief brand Reactine have taken steps to have an allergy emoji added to the current emoji standard.
The world’s first ever allergy emoji has been proposed to the Unicode Consortium.
Reactine, a leading Canadian allergy relief brand, have submitted formal documentation for the inclusion of the allergy emoji - which could be used by sufferers of hay fever and seasonal allergies.
Allergies: Nothing to Sneeze at
It’s estimated that over 450 million people around the world suffer from allergies - with 50 million residing in the USA. The symptoms of allergies including itchy eyes, runny noses and sinus headaches.
To give the proposal some momentum and to indicate public interest - the brand have even posted a Change.org petition which currently stands at 395 signatures, indicating plenty of interest in such an emoji.
The graphic included within the petition may not be the finalised version, but it includes a sad looking emoji with red, painful and watering eyes with a tissue covering the nose. Surrounding the emoji are all sorts of allergy causes like flowers and dust particles.
Allergy Emoji Likelihood
Further more, Reactine have also created the hashtag #AllergyFeels for easy social media finding and collaboration.
This follows a recent study conducted by the Canadian allergy relief brand, finding that 1 in 5 allergy sufferers do not use any treatment to relieve symptoms. In the report, pollen and hay fever are the prime causes of allergies in Canada, with both allergens seeing massive increases since 2011. In the same study, over 66% of respondents told Reactine that allergies affected their sleep.
An allergy emoji would likely find its place among other illness related emojis, like the bandaged head, face with thermometer and the neauseated face.
A potential barrier for the inclusion of the emoji could be the existence of the Sneezing Face, which could represent the sneezing symptoms of allergies. Combined with the flower emoji and other similar symbols, this could be an accurate representation of allergies.
