SMILEY WORLD AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS:
For over 45 years, Smiley has shaped the way we share happiness and express ourselves through iconic and creative products found all over the world. Smiley is a truly unlimited brand, that has influenced musical generations, social movements, popular culture and the pursuit of happiness. For over four decades, Smiley has become more than just an icon, brand or lifestyle: it is now a spirit and a philosophy, reminding people just how powerful a smile can be!
On January 1st 1972, Smiley was born when French newspaper France Soir journalist Franklin Loufrani launched a happiness promotion, in which he used the Smiley logo to highlight good news stories. Loufrani trademarked Smiley and started licensing the rights to the Smiley icon for promotional use.
During the 1990’s his son Nicolas joined The Smiley Company and, recognizing the growth in the digital world, turned his focus toward people using expressive punctuation emotions for text messaging and edmails. Experimenting with Smiley, he created animated faces that corresponded to these predexisting emoticons and the Smiley Dictionary was born. Thousands of Smiley icons would become the world’s first Smileys and influence the creation of emojis. His creations launched the new brand, SmileyWorld, made up entirely of the expressive Smiley icons.
Today the Smiley Company is one of the TOP 100 licensing Companies in the world, with over 260 licensees globally generating annual turnover at retail in excess of $265 million and selling more than 23 million products year round. The Smiley trademark is registered in over 100 countries and in more than 13 product categories. According to a recent Toluna survey Smiley has 97% recognition across the world as a symbol of positivity!
