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Credit: JPI

Soap Opera Digest: What was the genesis of the DOOLmojis?
Greg Meng: We started development on a DAYS OF OUR LIVES app over a year ago. We did so with a goal in mind, to enhance social networking among our fans and cast, as well as inspire them to watch shows that they may have missed. So, as we were working on that, we realized, “Wait, we’re missing something.” And that was to create our own emojis, DOOLMojis. The more we got into it, we realized, “Wow, this is something we need to focus on immediately because people can start using them right away.” It was simply a natural progression; with emojis being such an important part of communication now, we knew the fans would love them as much as we did! These DOOLMojis represent memorable moments from DAYS and are a fun way to embellish or specifically convey a thought or feeling or emotion. And, who doesn’t love a great bitch slap anyway?! Ha!

Digest: How did you decide which ones to create? They really run the gamut from Alice’s ornament to Carrie slapping Sami.
Meng: We actually plan to continue releasing additional emojis over the next year. So while initially for some it may seem like, “You missed my favorite character,” well, buckle up, because they are coming! We plan to create images that represent fond memories that our family of fans will appreciate by capturing concepts such as: ideas (Marlena possessed and levitating), emotions (Carrie slapping Sami) and familiar objects (Alice’s Christmas ornament).

Digest: Did the actors have any input into their DOOLmojis?
Meng: Yes, and the actors will continue to have input. We’ve gone through several versions of some of the DOOLMojis. For example, for Lauren [Koslow, Kate], we had to do several versions of her, and it wasn’t just the streak of blue hair, it was the tiny nuances. And John [Drake Hogestyn] with his little eyebrow quirk … It’s these subtleties that create the essence of that character; that doesn’t happen in two or three renderings sometimes. So, we’ve had to go to them and get their input, like, “What do you suggest here?” And many of them have seen them and think, “Oh, that’s me. That’s great!” Everyone is very excited!

Digest: How are you going to spread the word online about them? Are the actors going to be involved?
Meng: Oh, absolutely! It’s all about them! In fact, every time I see one of the cast members, they’re like, “When are we doing this?!” They’re all so eager! Even those whose emojis are still being designed … they know they’re coming and they can’t wait. We have some exciting online events planned. We’ll be doing a Facebook Live, live tweets with cast, a lot of things like that. We’re the first daytime drama to create emojis of our characters, and this is such an exciting time for us, so we want to make sure our fans are aware that they are available. It will be interesting to see how they start using them!

Digest: Do you have an idea of what emoji you think will be used the most?
Meng: My gut would tell me the slaps [between Sami/Carrie and Sami/Nicole]. They are memorable moments with a lot of emotion behind them and so much versatility! But we’re also planning on doing some fun things to keep people interested, and thinking of ways they can use them, so we’re going to stay engaged and hopefully the fans will respond, and we think that’s important.

Digest: When will we see the next launches?
Meng: We’re looking at releasing a new batch every month or so. Again, as we continue to release additional emojis, we look forward to getting feedback from the fans on any new emojis they’d like us to create. We hope the DOOLMojis will be a fun and creative tool for all of us to express our thoughts as DAYS OF OUR LIVES approaches its 52nd anniversary on NBC on November 8!

Get your DOOLMojis for 99 cents in the App store and the Google Play store when the app releases on September 21. For more info, go to www.DOOLMojiApp.com.

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