java.sql.SQLException: Incorrect string value: '\xF0\x9F\x91\xBD\xF0\x9F...'

I have the following string value: "walmart obama "

I am using MySQL and Java.

I am getting the following exception: `java.sql.SQLException: Incorrect string value: '\xF0\x9F\x91\xBD\xF0\x9F...'

Here is the variable I am trying to insert into:

var1 varchar(255) CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci NOT NULL`

My Java code that is trying to insert "walmart obama " is a preparedStatement. So I am using the setString() method.

It looks like the problem is the encoding of the values . How can I fix this? Previously I was using Derby SQL and the values just ended up being two sqaures (I think this is the representation of the null character)

All help is greatly appreciated!