Why Jeep Is One Brand That's Happy Not to Have Its Own Emoji

Brands are inordinately obsessed with emojis. Whether it’s Taco Bell campaigning for a taco emoji or Philadelphia Cream Cheese complaining about the spread-less bagel emoji, they often seem a little overly in thrall to the tiny cartoon shapes. 

But Jeep wants nothing to do with its own emoji, if it means equating its vehicles with others on the market. 

The Fiat Chrysler brand has been irritated recently that iOS users who type “Jeep” into a text message would see a boxy blue car ? pop up as an emoji option—the same emoji that would appear if you simply typed “car” or “SUV.” To Jeep, the interchangeable nature of the emoji misrepresented the brand, and was worth picking a fight over. 

And with Apple’s most recent iOS update, Jeep got its way. Typing in “Jeep” no longer pulls up any emoji options at all. 

The automaker is now celebrating in social media with digital ads themed #ThisIsNotJeep, which show the cartoon SUV emoji struggling to navigate challenging landscapes and weather in the great outdoors. 

“Our fans know the real thing when they see it, and they have voiced their dismay with the emoji that misrepresented the Jeep brand when typing the word ‘Jeep’ on mobile operating systems,” Olivier Francois, chief marketing officer at FCA, told Muse in an email. 

“The Jeep brand is opposed to this emoji being connected with its name, and we’re happy the association has been removed from the latest iOS update. We’re good-naturedly celebrating its demise with our owners and fans through this social media campaign, while firmly making it known that any SUV that does not carry the Jeep brand name cannot pass itself off as one of our vehicles.” 

A video in running on Twitter and Instagram, which you can see below. 

This little blue emoji ? is clearly not Trail Rated. So glad @Apple agrees and removed our name in the latest iOS update. #ThisIsNotJeep pic.twitter.com/RZ7uWPWffU

— Jeep (@Jeep) October 9, 2019