The emoji was projected onto the Empire State Building
Whatsapp, the world’s most popular messaging platform, lit up the Empire State Building in New York in green as it launched a new race car emoji to celebrate its rapid growth in the United States. WhatsApp – which has been a partner of Mercedes since this year – has released the new personalized emoji of an F1 car that over two billion users will be able to use immediately in their chats, just in time for the Miami Grand Prix next weekend. Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff together pressed the famous switch of the Empire State Building and turned on the lights of the building’s iconic tower colored green that immediately evokes the icon that we all tap on our smartphones every day.
Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp, said: “Year after year, WhatsApp is gaining traction in the United States because people want a private and secure way to communicate across platforms. WhatsApp is not only the best way to chat about a race with friends around the world, but also within the United States, and we are excited to celebrate this growth together with Mercedes and the Empire State Building.”
“In recent years, both our sport and WhatsApp have been on an impressive growth path in the United States – he added Toto Wolff – the partnership between us as a team and WhatsApp, our official messaging partner, is therefore natural. We rely on WhatsApp every day for the privacy and security it offers to our communications, which are fundamental in F1. It’s great to celebrate our collaboration with several initiatives in New York that are sure to be talked about.”
“I have always felt a special connection to the United States – the words of Lewis Hamilton – I remember going to New York as a child and dreaming of living in this city and since then I have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time here. In New York I have had many incredible experiences and have met many amazing people, but driving an F1 down Fifth Avenue and lighting up the Empire State Building is incredibly special. It’s something I never thought was possible and it was even better to do it in collaboration with WhatsApp, an app that keeps my connection to the United States alive by making it easy to stay in touch with many people in the States.”
