Why this business published job ads made entirely of emoji

A global advertising company has encouraged budding creative to apply for its internship program – without saying a word or providing any contact details.

The Portuguese arm of Havas Worldwide has advertised for digitally savvy interns by setting up billboards near local universities.

But instead of a classic text-based campaign, Havas Worldwide decided to do something different.

Each billboard is plastered with the same emoji pattern except for just one emoji that stands out from the rest – giving a hint as to what kind of interns the agency is looking for.

One poster has a series of thumbs-down icons with just one thumb pointing up, while another billboard has a series of storm-cloud emoji with just one ray of sunshine.

Read more: MailChimp reveals the most popular emoji for email newsletter subject lines

The only text to feature in the campaign are the words “Havas Internship Program #nowhiring”.

No ideas are bad ideas! Havas WW Portugal: Internship Program, 6 pic.twitter.com/XxIVBsaFV0

— Meela Paloma (@Meela312) February 21, 2016

Leo Gomez, the man responsible for the campaign, told BandT emoji were used on the billboards in order to make them “modern and interesting”.

“The campaign was in poster[s] in universities and subway stations near the university campus,” Gomez said.

The aim was to “reach young people who use this language every day”, according to the advertising executive.

People are increasingly turning to emoji (Japanese for “picture characters”) to express emotions – or communicate entire phrases – in text messages and social media updates.