For April Fools, Google rearranged Gmail’s UI to replace the normal send button with one that attaches a Minions(TM) Mic Drop GIF animation to outgoing email.
“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,” Google explained when it launched the button on April 1.
Unfortunately, this resulted in things like this:
WHAT A HARMLESS APRIL FOOL'S JOKE, WHAT COULD GO WRONG pic.twitter.com/Maw8a6VUSA
— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) April 1, 2016
Google quickly realized what it had done and turned it off…
Well, it looks like we pranked ourselves this year. ? Due to a bug, the MicDrop feature inadvertently caused more headaches than laughs. We’re truly sorry. The feature has been turned off. If you are still seeing it, please reload your Gmail page.
…but not before a fair heap of mistakenly-dropped mics had piled up, along with the mic droppers’ anguished complaints, on the internet.
A good reminder that email is not what Gmail is for.