What's the deal with… Smiley

The iconic yellow Smiley face is everywhere in CentralWorld. The man who has helped catapult this character to fame tells you everything you need to know about it.

Smiley, the iconic yellow face with a signature perma-smile, is perhaps one of the world’s best-known comic figures. You see it everywhere, from souvenirs sold in the streets to installations in galleries. You’ve seen it so often but probably never thought of it as a brand. But it is. The original Smiley icon first appeared in a newspaper campaign about 45 years ago and has became a globally registered trademark since.

Time Out Bangkok sits down with Nicolas Loufrani, CEO of the Smiley Company, to talk more about the brand, its products and how Smiley landed in one of Bangkok’s megamalls.

wOrld Of happiness. Until 7 January 2019 at CentralWorld.

Smiling from the start

The smiley face—a simple drawing of two eye dots and a smile—was nothing new, but it was French journalist Franklin Loufrani, Nicolas’ father, who first trademarked Smiley in 1972. Wanting to spread happiness in a time where bad news seemed to prevail, the elder Loufrani lured people to reading positive news by drawing a smiling face next to a fun or optimistic story.

Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok

Simple concept, big fame

Despite its simplicity, Smiley evolved into a pop art sensation throughout the ’70s and ’80s, and was licensed into various kinds of merchandise—fashion items, toys, stationery and many more. Nicolas, a former London-based fashion designer, joined his father’s company in the mid-’90s and helped diversify the brand into even more categories. He’s responsible for the inclusion of Smiley faces in the digital keyboard, which eventually became the Smiley emoticons we can’t stop using when e-chatting these days. Nicolas always makes sure that his team creates products that are original, trendy and exciting. “Our brand stands for emotions, happiness, positive thinking, fun, lots of positive values,” he says. “One thing that’s part of our brand DNA is creativity. We like to create exciting products and marketing campaigns. We like to co-create them with partners—these are the key values of Smiley as a company.”

Go eastward

Though it’s seen on imported collaborative items and products sold throughout the kingdom, Smiley has never been officially—and legally—launched in Thailand. This massive collaboration with retail company Central Pattana, which resulted in the Smiley image appearing all over the latter’s shopping centers around the country, comes closest to a formal introduction. There’s now a huge Smiley mini theme park at CentralWorld. Don’t forget to check out the Smiley reindeers, which are some of Loufrani’s favorites. “It's a sort of a re-launch of Smiley in Thailand,” he explains. Are we getting an official Smiley store soon? Most likely.

What’s in the pipeline?

At the Smiley headquarters in London, a team of artists are always shooting new ideas and creating new projects to assure that the famed yellow image does not stop evolving. Plans include comic books, cartoons and new food products. “Smiley is our form of art,” Nicolas states. “And as a form of art, we have inspired a lot of people who have followed our path. We are not artists like Picasso or Andy Warhol, but I dream, one day, of working with a very famous contemporary artist. [We want to] continue growing the brand for the future, and hope we'll still be here 45 years from now.”

Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok

Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok