Quebec petition for poutine emoji surpasses 5,000 signatures ahead of July 31 deadline
Valentine restaurant chain relaunched the campaign after Unicode rejected it in 2019, betting on poutine's global popularity to succeed this time.
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More than 5,000 people have signed an online petition supporting the creation of a poutine emoji, with the campaign set to conclude July 31.
Valentine, the Quebec restaurant chain behind the push, previously launched a similar effort in 2019 that was rejected by the Unicode Consortium, which controls emoji creation. Eliza Lafond, the company's marketing director, said the timing feels right for a new proposal. "The popularity of poutine has continued to grow internationally and it's now on the menu of a lot of big cities around the world," she explained.
After the petition closes, Valentine will submit the proposal to the Unicode Consortium for consideration. Lafond pointed to the strong response—thousands of signatures since mid-June—as encouraging evidence that a poutine emoji has genuine public backing.
