A Quick Tutorial On The Shrug Emoji (🤷🏻) for Fun Marketing

Shrug! Isn’t that all how we feel sometimes? Although ambivalence isn’t exactly the feeling you want to inspire in your marketing campaigns, there are times when the shrug emoji will come in handy.

Maybe you want to show your customers that you relate to their everyday work challenges, or maybe the text reaches a point where it makes sense to convey a feeling of … meh! 🤷

In this quick guide to the shrug emoji, we’ll tell you what it means, when to use it, and how to type it out real fast so you can showcase some true indifference about whatever makes you shrug 😉

Table of Contents

What Does the Shrug Emoji Mean?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The shrug emoji represents the universal shrug gesture. It can convey more than just indifference. It can also mean confusion, feeling ‘over it’, annoyance, ignorance, or ambivalence.

No matter how many new emojis come, we are still obsessed with the shrug emoji. Coz, why not? There are three main types of shrug emojis with five skin tone variations plus the default yellow:

Person shrugging🤷🤷🏻🤷🏼🤷🏽🤷🏾🤷🏿
Woman shrugging 🤷‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏿‍♀️
Man shrugging 🤷‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏿‍♂️

All these variations are part of the Unicode standard, ensuring consistent representation across different platforms.

Now let’s take a closer look at all these meanings that people have come to associate with the shrug emoji.

Confusion

What’s with the long email your boss or senior just dropped? What is with this ad copy that your team or agency just punched out?

In situations where you’re left scratching your head, the shrug emoji is the perfect way to tell everyone how you’re feeling without saying a word.

Feeling ‘Over It’

Everyone has their breaking point. When you can’t stand another bad thing happening in your day, it’s the shrug emoji to the rescue to express your emotions.

Just look at that face. Look at those slack arms. Much like this shrug from Joey in FRIENDS, the shrug emoticon can convey a feeling of getting ‘over it’, which is apt when you just couldn’t care less.

Matt Leblanc shrug or Whatever GIF — *Source: Giphy*

Annoyance

There are countless emojis one can use to express their annoyance, but let’s be real, none of them are really that nice.

The shrug emoji sort of comes out of left-field when presented in this context, but that’s why it’s effective. You didn’t use the burning red emoji, or the one with the censor bar over its mouth that’s spewing profanities.

Instead, expressing annoyance with the shrug emoji is a truly nuanced reaction with just a touch of being totally over it. This emoji allows for a subtler form of communication and goes great with emojis like the facepalm or rolling eyes to express further annoyance without being too overt.

Ignorance

If you just don’t care about something that you don’t know and is being discussed, the shrug emoticon comes in handy as well. It’s the perfect embodiment of your emotions.

Power Rangers Shrug Reaction GIF — *Source: Giphy*

Ambivalence

The OG meaning of the shrug emoji is to express ambivalence or indifference.

Everything about the way the original emoticon was crafted just oozes ambivalence, from the posture to the facial expression, even the height of the raised arms.

If the answer to a question can be both yes and no, and it doesn’t make a difference to you either way, just use the shrug emoji.

Where Does the Shoulder Shrug Emoji Fit in Your Marketing Campaigns?

Here’s the thing about emojis – they’re hip and trendy.

Marketers want in on emojis because if something is trending, people are usually more receptive to it.

Emojis have been around in some way, shape, or form since the 1980s and maybe even earlier. They’ve been on our phones for what feels like forever.

The smiley emoji, crying laughing emoji, angry emoji, and even the poop emoji have permeated every part of pop culture, from clothing to backpacks, and even got their own panned film at one point.

I Have No Idea Idk or Shrug GIF by Product Hunt — *Source: Giphy*

If you want to capitalize on the popularity of emojis creatively, you have to be willing to dig deep into the selection of emojis. After all, there are well over 3,600 emojis today.

Not all will garner the type of reaction you want. You need to connect to your audience’s feelings, and that means using an emoji that expresses those human emotions.

As nice as the sunset or fireworks emojis are, they don’t mean much in marketing. The shrug emoji? Now, that one conveys strong feelings but hasn’t been done to death (yet).

It’s perfect to incorporate into many marketing campaigns, especially if you want to show your audience that you relate to even the not-so-great emotion they might be having about the subject at hand.

How to Type the Shrug Emoji No Matter Your Device

How did we type the shruggie as so?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How do you use him in emoji form? It’s easy!

On Windows 10 Devices

There’s no need to type the shoulder shrug emoji if you’re using a Windows 10 device. The shruggie is included in the expansive collection of emojis, so all you have to do is find it.

Follow these simple steps:

On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key as well as the semicolon or period key simultaneously. You’ll see the emoji keyboard.
Find the shruggie in the collection and click on it. It will then be added to the place your cursor was.

Finally, there's an iOS emoji for the shruggie ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - The Verge — *Source: The Verge*

On Mac Devices

For Mac users, it’s easier still to send that shruggie wherever you want this expressive character.

Copy the shrug emoji from this article.
Go to System Preferences, then Keyboard.
Click the Text option and select the +.
In the Replace column, type &shrug exactly like that with no spaces.
In the With column, paste the shruggie.

On Android Devices

Android users can express confusion or ambivalence with the shrug emoticon by following these steps:

Copy the shruggie above.
Go into Settings, then Language & Input.
Choose All Languages and click the +.
In the Shortcut box, type &shrug exactly as it appears.
In the Type a Word box, paste the emoji.

Glorify - Shrug Emoji: How to Type/Make the Shrug Emoji & What's it - A Detailed Guide — *Source: Glorify*

If your Android has a Samsung keyboard, you need to follow a slightly different set of steps. Here they are:

Copy the shrug emoticon.
Toggle to Settings, then General Management, then Language & Input.
Choose the On-Screen Keyboard option, and then Samsung Keyboard.
Select Smart Typing and Text Shortcuts.
In Text Shortcuts, choose Add.
In Shortcut, type &shrug exactly as you see it.
Type the Add option to confirm your selection.
In Extended Phrase, paste the shruggie.

On Apple Devices

If you own an Apple iPhone, you can type a shrug whenever you wish.

Copy the shrug emoji from this article.
Go into Settings, then General, then Keyboard.
Select Text Replacement, then tap +.
In the Shortcut field, type &shrug as you see it.
Paste the shrug emoji in the Phrase field.

On All Other Devices

On any other device not covered above, all you need to do is copy the shruggie and paste it wherever you want.

Feel free to copy it from here: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Conclusion

The shrug emoticon, also known as the shoulder shrugging emoji or shruggie, is how a lot of us feel some days.

You can use the shruggie in an email subject line, a social media post, or in a text to customers. One thing is for sure — the shrug emoji has certainly cemented its place in emoji history.

Have fun with it!

👉Improve your customer interactions with our expert guide on using emojis in customer service! 👍

Content updated for freshness and SEO by Swastik Sahu.