Google has caused many people unhappiness this April Fool’s day: here’s what they did

Last Updated on 2016-05-19 , 1:43 pm

Aside from all the festivals and holidays, the other time when brands are always trying to outdo one another is April’s Fool. Google is usually good with jokes and pranks, however, this year the joke was on Google.

Users of Gmail woke up on 1st April to find that an additional ‘send + mic drop’ button was available in their email. Here’s what Google wrote on its blog: “Like those heated threads at work, when everyone’s wrong except you (obviously). Or those times when someone’s seeking group approval, but your opinion is the only one that matters (amirite?). Or maybe you just nailed it, and there’s nothing more to say (bam).”

None the wiser, many Gmail users have clicked on it to realise that a mic-dropping Minion GIF would be attached to their email. If you don’t already know what mic drop means, it represents that a person is done with the conversation and has the definitive last say.

Your recipients will receive the email but that’s about the last you’ll hear of it. Any replies that come after that will automatically be archived and not be sent to your Inbox (you’ll only be able to read it under all mail).

The seemingly harmless joke drew backlashes fast, with many Gmail users complaining that they’ve sent the inappropriate emails to business correspondences. Others have said that it costed them employment opportunities while some have unknowingly sent it in sombre emails such as funeral arrangements.

To make matters worst, there was a bug that attached the GIF even when users clicked on the normal send button. Google was forced to pull the plug on the feature shortly after and released an apology statement: “Well, it looks like we pranked ourselves this year. ? Due to a bug, the Mic Drop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs. We’re truly sorry. The feature has been turned off.”