A British schoolboy has launched a petition asking Apple to fix and rename the "nerd face" emoji he finds offensive and insulting. Maybe we can't expect a 10-year-old elementary school student to know that the emoji is actually managed by the Unicode Consortium, but you might expect that the teacher who encouraged him to petition will look into the issue.
Teddy, a 10-year-old boy from Peppard, Oxfordshire, said Apple's nerdy icon, with its protruding front teeth, left a bad impression on people who wear glasses, BBC News reported.
"We want to change that - Apple makes people who wear glasses feel really horrible. They make people think we're nerds, which is absolutely horrible," he said.
"It makes me sad and sad," he continued. "If I find this offensive, thousands of people around the world will also find it offensive."
Teddy designed his own version, replacing the teeth with a small closed-mouth smile. "The lenses are very thin, the frame is very thin...and a little smiley face replaces the big, scary teeth," he said.
While the Unicode Consortium decides whether an emoji is officially adopted, how it is used is up to each technology company. Emojipedia shows examples of at least most variations of emoji designs, including an emoji literally known as "nerd face."
Most companies have gone with the same protruding teeth design as Apple, but Facebook's design is close to Teddy's own new design. The Facebook version of the grinning face is only available on Android and PC, though, as Facebook on Mac or iPhone uses Apple's version.
The boy's petition was encouraged by a teacher named Lisa, who told the BBC she loved "his curiosity and the fact that he fought for what he believed in".
She continued: "He has a strong voice in this area, but in a more mature way. I think this should also be supported, encouraged and praised."
BBC News said Apple has yet to comment.