Cody Johnson, Director of Communications at New Mexico Tourism Department shares this fun update. The fact is, anyone can suggest a new emoji, but the process is an ardous one and most requests are denied. (Just ask Maine about their lobster emoji efforts.)

"For this year's Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, we at the New Mexico Tourism Department wanted to find a way to celebrate and recognize New Mexico's status as the Ballooning Capital of the World - and each year, we are always reminded of the fact that we all somehow don't have any form of a hot air balloon emoji to use when we share our images and experiences from Balloon Fiesta.

So this year, we decided to do our part to change that. We launched a petition campaign that asks New Mexicans and ballooning enthusiasts to support our efforts in bringing awareness to this 'travesty' and affect change."

Cody gives shout outs to Nicole Barker at The Abbi Agency for the article in Thrillist, as well as to Erin Mitchell who designed a hot air balloon emoji plus social content strategy to launch this campaign.