Apple’s Anatomically Incorrect Squid Emoji Blunder Causes Internet Stir

Silicon Valley is no stranger to emoji blunders. Case in point: earlier this month, Apple was called out for its anatomically incorrect squid emoji. The Monterey Bay Aquarium pointed out the marine biology error in a tweet on Dec. 5, saying that Apple’s squid emoji was “upside down.” It then proceeded to create a thread full of ocean-themed puns related to the mistake.

Basically, the error of Apple’s squid emoji ways has to do with what is called a siphon. A squid uses this siphon to move around through a form of jet propulsion, taking in water through their mantle and releasing it through the siphon. It’s also used for respiration and waste discharge.

And, more importantly, the siphon is supposed to be on the back of the squid’s “head” — not on its face, where it’s located on Apple’s emoji. “It just looks like a weirdo nose,” the Monterey Bay Aquarium said in a tweet.

Sarah McAnulty, a marine biologist and squid expert, told Gizmodo that “it would be like having a butt on your forehead.”

Of course, it seems that the erroneous squid emoji has escaped notice for two years. It was originally released as part of Unicode 9.0 back in 2016.

As far as what the squid emoji should look like, web user interface designer Dan Flynn took it upon himself to mock up an anatomically correct squid design.

It’s worth noting that the fault likely lies entirely in Apple. While the Unicode Consortium develops emoji standards, it has no part in the actual design that consumers use. Instead, that’s left up to tech firms — who often throw their own spin on the characters.

But that “spin” can backfire on tech firms. That’s evidenced by the fact that this is far from the first time that an emoji has sparked controversy.

Apple has been previously called out for an unappetizing bagel emoji and the lack of options for its redheaded emoji characters. Other companies, like Google, have had their own emoji-related controversies.

In other words, if tech companies have learned anything from the public, it’s that they should pay more attention to their emoji design.