Bacardi and Lonely Whale call for emoji straw ban

Spirits producer Bacardi and environmental charity Lonely Whale are calling for an end to the use of plastic straws in emojis.

Bacardi has issued an open letter inspired by Sydney the Sea Turtle

Bacardi and Lonely Whale have issued a “cease and de-sip” letter to the Unicode Consortium, the organisation that manages the emoji catalog, requesting the removal of plastic straws from the soda cup and cocktail emojis.

Jacob Briars, global advocacy director for Bacardi, said: “Marine life is heavily affected by plastic waste and refusing the single-use plastic straw is one way each of us can take action.

“With billions of emojis being used globally each day, we want to help drive a cultural change where our online world promotes a plastic-free, marine-friendly straw, or straw-less options for drinks, just as we at Bacardi continue to do so in real life.”

The open letter tells the story of Sydney the Sea Turtle, and has been published alongside a video starring comedian and activist Daniel Franzese.

“I was honoured when Sydney first floated her anti-emoji straw campaign by me, mainly because I shared the same salty feelings about single-use plastic straws,” said Franzese. “I challenge not only Unicode, but everyone to join and pledge so we can ensure a bright future for Sydney and all her marine life friends.”

Bacardi and Lonely Whale hope that by removing plastic straws from digital usage they will be able to shift cultural norms around drinking with single-use plastic straws. To give avid supporters an alternative emoji solution, Bacardi and Lonely Whale have released a collection of Giphy stickers inspired by the campaign.

The move is the latest step in Bacardi’s The Future Doesn’t Suck campaign, which aims to eliminate one billion single-use plastic straws by 2020.

Watch Bacardi’s video staring Franzese below.