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Emoji Ken Bone Is Making America Great Again

by Ann-Derrick Gaillot

America's most famous undecided voter is now an election day Twitter emoji. Ken Bone, capitalizing on his newfound but waning fame, has partnered with IZOD for a #MyVote2016 Twitter campaign encouraging Americans to make their voice heard and their vote count this election day. Newly Twitter verified and with the backing of the makers of his trademark sweater, Bone's emoji appears next to every use of the #MyVote2016 hashtag. Currently trending, the hashtag is being used for everything from celebrating having voted and promoting particular presidential candidates to just commenting on Ken Bone and the new emoji itself.

The campaign was kicked off with a commercial released in October in which Bone is seen choosing from a selection of identical red IZOD sweaters in his closet before heading out to meet his throngs of fans around Washington D.C. In the video, Bone contemplates the ephemerality of his fame, hoping to be able to use his notoriety for good, while he has it. "I'm not a politician, I'm just a guy with a positive message," says Bone in the video titled "Ken Bone's Fifteenth Minute. "It's really important that we don't give up on the political process."

Bone and his famous red sweater rose to fame after asking a question about energy policy during the town-hall style presidential debate.

So far, Bone has fairly restrained in using the hashtag that bears his image, but that hasn't stopped thousands of other Twitter users from embracing #myvote2016. It also hasn't stopped IZOD from Ken Bone-izing their Twitter account page.

The company has been dutifully retweeting their sponsee, who now also dominates their header image. Election day is far from over, so there's no telling how much Bone will actually be interacting with fans on social media. But as he told USA Today, Bone got his voting done early today, so there will be plenty of time for tweeting yet.

"I really do expect at the end of the election that it winds down and when it's over, it's over," says Bone at the end of his IZOD video. "And I'm happy to have played my role." Want to show your support for the democratic process? Just want to express your love for Bone? Use #MyVote2016 today and join the conversation.