Product Code Database
The Eggplant emoji (π), also known in English, French and its Unicode name as Aubergine, is an emoji featuring a purple eggplant. Social media users have noted the emoji's phallus appearance and often use it as a Euphemism or suggestive icon during sexting conversations in order to represent a penis. It is frequently paired and often contrasted with the peach emoji (π), which is often used when representing the buttocks (or female genitals).
As part of a set of characters sourced from SoftBank, au by KDDI, and NTT Docomo emoji sets, the eggplant emoji was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 under the name "Aubergine". In 2011, Apple made the emoji keyboard a standard iOS feature worldwide. Global popularity of emojis then surged in the early- to mid-2010s.
The eggplant emoji has been included in the Unicode Technical Standard for emoji (UTS #51) since its first edition (Emoji 1.0) in 2015.
It has been speculated that the first instance of the eggplant emoji being linked to a penis is its use in the reality show Susunu! Denpa ShΕnen to cover the genitals of a contestant nicknamed "Nasubi", which means "eggplant" in Japanese. Nasubi was featured on the show for 15 months from 1998 to 1999, naked the entire time, with only an eggplant emoji covering his genitals. On Twitter, the emoji was used as a reference to a penis as early as 2011. By the mid-2010s, online magazine outlets wrote about how the emoji's usage in sexual contexts morphed society's connotations of the eggplant "from an innocuous vegetable to America's favorite shorthand for a throbbing cock." Slate writer Amanda Hess stated that "the eggplant has risen to become America's dominant phallic fruit." Writing for Cosmopolitan, Kathryn Lindsay stated that "this simple, previously neglected vegetable rocketed into stardom in a matter of years, thanks to our collective decision to deem it the universal symbol for dick."
In 2018, Dictionary.com became the first major reference to add explanations for emojis, although these explanations are only included on the editorial section of the website.
The eggplant emoji has been referenced by popular culture numerous times. In 2017, Netflix won a bidding war to distribute a film titled The Eggplant Emoji. The film was ultimately renamed The Package. In 2019, the cosmetics retailer Lush sold resembling the eggplant emoji for Valentine's Day. The company expanded their eggplant and peach emoji-themed product line the following year.
In April 2015, Instagram released a feature allowing users to hashtag emojis. Shortly after, the platform banned the hashtag "π", as well as any references to "eggplant" from its search function. Later in 2019, Facebook and Instagram both banned using the eggplant or peach emojis alongside "sexual statements about being horny."
In 2016, the eggplant emoji's widespread usage as sexual innuendo led the American Dialect Society to vote it as the "Most Notable Emoji" of 2015.
Popularity on social media and cultural impact
The "aubergine" or "eggplant" emoji is commonly used to represent a penis in sexting conversations. This usage has been noted to be common, particularly in the United States, as well as in Canada. In line with the eggplant emoji's common usage in sexual contexts, Emojipedia noted that the emoji is popularly paired with the peach emoji (π), which is often used to represent buttocks or female genitalia.
Reception
As early as 2013, online media outlets have commented on the eggplant emoji's resemblance to a penis, with Complex listing it as one of "10 emojis to send while sexting."
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