Google Forced To Apologize For Gmail’s ‘Mic Drop’ April Fool’s Day Prank

Google had to disable one of its April Fool’s Day jokes after Gmail users complained that the prank was far from harmless.

Google’s Botched April Fool’s Joke

To celebrate April Fool’s, Google launched “Gmail Mic Drop.” The special, one-day feature provided a secondary “send” button, which, when hit, would add a GIF of a Despicable Me minion clad as a king dropping a microphone to the end of one’s email. Additionally, it disabled anyone from replying to the person who “dropped the mic.”

“Email’s great, but sometimes you just wanna hit the eject button. Like those heated threads at work, when everyone’s wrong except you (obviously),” Google said in its announcement about the prank. “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).”

Google added, “Today, Gmail is making it easier to have the last word on any email with Mic Drop. Simply reply to any email using the new ‘Send + Mic Drop’ button. Everyone will get your message, but that’s the last you’ll ever hear about it. Yes, even if folks try to respond, you won’t see it.”

Unfortunately, the Gmail Mic Drop was not received with as many laughs as the Google team had anticipated. Many people who use Gmail for work found themselves accidentally hitting the prank button, and ending up in hot water with employers.

One of the worst stories to come from the mic drop involved a writer. “Thanks to Mic Drop I just lost my job,” the Gmail user wrote in Google’s help forum. “I am a writer and had a deadline to meet. I sent my articles to my boss and never heard back from her. I inadvertently sent the email using the ‘Mic Drop’ send button. There were corrections that needed to be made on my articles and I never received her replies. My boss took offense to the Mic Drop animation and assumed that I didn’t reply to her because I thought her input was petty (hence the Mic Drop). I just woke up to a very angry voicemail from her which is how I found out about this ‘hilarious’ prank.”

In light of the backlash, Google quickly scrubbed the feature from Gmail and issued an apology.

“Well, it looks like we pranked ourselves this year. ? Due to a bug, the Mic Drop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs,” Google wrote in a statement on its blog. “We’re truly sorry. The feature has been turned off. If you are still seeing it, please reload your Gmail page.”