diff --git a/stockTicker.py b/stockTicker.py
index b9deeb0..059ed56 100755
--- a/stockTicker.py
+++ b/stockTicker.py
@@ -789,6 +789,8 @@ class StockTicker():
                 r,g,b = colours[message['text_colour']]
 
                 background = colours[message['background_colour']]
+                decoded = message['text'].encode("ascii","ignore")
+                message['text'] = decoded.decode()
                 msg_img = self.textImage(message['text'], font, int(r), int(g), int(b), True, w_buff = 11, background = background, location = location)
             
                 img = Image.new('RGB', (msg_img.size[0] + 5, 32))