Google Has Already Disabled Its “Mic Drop” April Fools’ Day Gmail Prank

There’s a difference between a dumb April Fools’ Day joke that isn’t funny or doesn’t trick anyone, and an April Fools’ Day joke that makes people angry and results in a $517 billion company having to apologize.

Only hours into its 2016 April Fools’ fun, Google had to pull the plug on its latest goof: A “Mic Drop & Send” button on Gmail accounts.

If pressed, this button inserted an animation of a Minion (from the Despicable Me movies) dropping a microphone on the conversation. More importantly — and annoyingly — it muted any replies to that email.

“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,” Google said in a blog post Thursday unveiling the joke button.

The functional button seemed like a fun way to seemingly assert your superiority in a discussion, but it turned out to cause just a few problems for Gmail users.

Not everyone noticed the new feature, which was placed on an orange button next to the normal “Send” button. Thus, Gmail users around the world were inadvertently dropping the mic on bosses, professors, loved ones, potential employers, and many others.

Gmail Mic Drop: “We’ve defaced some of your messages and hidden the replies, and you probably have no idea why! LOL, April Fool!”

— Tom Scott (@tomscott) April 1, 2016

@google Mic Drop is super fancy but I'm scared I'll press it by accident and my career will go up in a flame of sass! Can it be turned off?

— Ryan van den Berg (@ryan_vdb93) March 31, 2016

Thank you gmail for the mic drop. I just sent it to my professor by accident. I really hope she has a sense of humor. #fingerscrossed

— Stacey O'Connor (@StaceO15) April 1, 2016

I haven't laughed at any April's fools websites jokes yet except the fact that Gmail Mic drop inadvertently got people fired.

— Talesh Seeparsan (@_Talesh) April 1, 2016

Google mic drop '16 causes job interview snafus: self-selection for jobs requiring reading comprehension, vigilance and attention to detail?

— Justin Teixeira (@TheveninRDM) April 1, 2016

Users expressed their concern and dissatisfaction that the button was actually functional on Google’s product forum starting soon after the joke hit the web.

“I just completed [a] questionnaire via e-mail for a JOB and accidentally hit the send + mic drop button!!! GOOGLE I WANT THIS FEATURE TURNED OFF!!” one Gmail user wrote.

“This is stupid and has no business on an email. It should be optional,” another user said.

Google responded to the outcry, disabling the feature and apologizing any trouble caused by the prank.

Still, some people were sad to see the annual April Fools’ joke end so soon.

@google Forget what the haters say about the mic drop feature. Bring it back!

— David Li (@LiThality) April 1, 2016

[via CNET]