Brexit Emojis Leave BBC Presenters Red Faced

Being tricked by an April Fool’s prank is bound to leave anyone red faced. Being tricked on national TV with millions of eyes watching? That’s a whole new level of embarrassment. And that was the unfortunate reality for BBC presenters Roger Johnson and Babita Sharma who were had by a story in the Observer regarding Brexit emojis.

The story claimed that an Italian tech firm wanted to cash in on the great divide that Brexit had caused by creating emojis that would show your leaning in the debate. The Brexit Bulldog (leave) and the Starry Blue (remain) were the purported emojis fit for purpose. It was a highly convincing story from a well established news source. But there was a big tell that this story wasn’t all it seemed - aside from the date of course.

The name of article’s author, Scherzo Primavera, actually translates as “Joke of Spring” - and considering the date the story was published… you can see why the presenters were left just a bit red faced,

The most cringe worthy aspect of the whole Brexit emojis hoodwink is how long it took the pair to realise the trick. It was around the 8 minutes mark when it finally clicked for Johnson that this was indeed an April Fool's joke. Sharing the trick with his blushing co-host Sharma, he added “Well done the Observer” and we have to concur. 

Looking at the pair of emojis, you can almost sympathise as they are highly convincing. The Starry Blue is highly reminiscent of the extremely popular Starry Eyed emoji and the Brexit Bulldog slots in nicely with the wide range of animal emojis available. 

While Brexit emojis are still just the imaginings of fictional Italian tech firms, we wonder if such a thing would ever be created - and the chances are probably not. The sheer amount of passion over the subject would surely create some flushed, red faces over the topic - kind of like a pair of BBC presenters we know...