Ford’s F-Series line of pickup trucks has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for decades, which should make the automaker an expert of sorts in the truck-building business.
Ford unveiled Wednesday the latest addition to its pickup truck portfolio. This particular one isn’t meant for driving. The automaker created a pickup truck emoji, which it debuted to celebrate World Emoji Day.
There currently is not a pickup truck emoji available — although there are emojis for nearly every other kind of transport, including airplanes, boats, cars and scooters.
Ford submitted a proposal in 2018 for a truck emoji to the Unicode Consortium, the organization that reviews
and approves proposals for new emojis. The truck emoji has been short-listed as a candidate for inclusion in a future version of Unicode. The final list of approved emoji won’t be revealed until early 2020.
Ford staff sifted through message boards, investigated texting influencers and watched social media feeds
to understand customers’ needs, according to Craig Metros, Ford North America design director.
“People want a truck emoji that’s fresh, stylish, carries their ideas, and ‘tows’ the line on what a truck means,” Metros said. “The end result is a modern icon that should give all truck fans a smiley face emoji.”