artist recreates poop emoji in 50 different ways to celebrate its 10th anniversary

it’s been 10 years since the poop emoji was created, giving smartphone users everywhere the chance to express a million different obscenities through one smiling swirl of excrement. all whilst still coming across cute. a milestone like this calls for celebration and what better way to commemorate what has become a shining example of 21st century communication than with a ‘shitty’ self-promo campaign. described that way by the artist himself, toronto-based photographer justin poulsen has recreated the poop emoji in 50 imaginative ways.

images courtesy of the artist

poulsen worked with canadian creative agency rethink to realise the campaign which sees the fecal matter take shape in the form of LEGO, candle wax, mashed potato, and even a disco ball. the self-promo piece was made to show off poulsen’s craft, which extends well beyond photography. he prefers to build his own props and in this case created his scenes in-camera, rather than in photoshop.

this is the second wild and wacky self-promo that poulsen has partnered with rethink to create. back in 2015, they teamed up to create severed thumb drives– handmade USB thumb drives shaped like poulsen’s thumb that were then sent to potential clients. this campaign had a similarly tongue-in-cheek tone…

‘I do a lot of different shit,’ says poulsen, ‘so why not actually make a lot of different shit to prove it? the 10th anniversary of the poop emoji was the perfect opportunity.‘