Gmail has been forced to pull its April Fool gag after just a few hours after users complained it had "got them in trouble" and "cost them a job".
Google introduced Mic Drop in a blog post late last night. The theoretically humorous feature replaced 'Send and Archive' with 'Send and Mic Drop', which muted conversations and added an apparently hilarious Minions gif. "Today, Gmail is making it easier to have the last word on any email," it wrote. "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, many users did not see the funny side.
"Thanks to Mic Drop I just lost a job," wrote one irate user. "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 offence 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."
Designer Andy Baio mocked up the 'worst case' scenario in which a funeral director inadvertently sent a gif to a potential client.
Google have now pulled the feature, with a spokesperson writing that the company had "pranked itself this year". "Well, it looks like we pranked ourselves this year. 😟 Due to a bug, the MicDrop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs," said Google employee Crystal Cee in a forum post. "We’re truly sorry. The feature has been turned off. If you are still seeing it, please reload your Gmail page."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
