Google canceled his April Fool’s Gmail – Le Figaro

VIDEO – The joke, which was to include a funny motion picture in the mail, did not laugh all users

The fish was too big. Google was forced to remove a proposed option for Gmail on April 1, just hours after its introduction. The joke was in the appearance of a button “Mic Drop” next to the usual send button at the bottom of the mails. Translatable “micro release,” this popular expression in the Anglo-Saxon culture refers to the feeling of victory felt after winning a debate or discussion.

For a few hours, Gmail users could press “Send + Mic Drop” button to include in their email an animated GIF of a Minion (a cartoon character, ed) dropping a microphone. Another original author of the email only saw once more notifications if he received an answer, the conversation being considered as closed. “The email is fun, but sometimes you just want to escape,” the company explained on his blog. “Today, Gmail will help you have the last word.”

Experience soon petered out. Many users complained that the new button replaces the one usually used to send and archive an email. This option, available in the Gmail settings, is usually used to save important messages. Worse, internet users described having unwittingly sent emails with GIF Minion, so that their message did not lend itself at all to the joke. On the self-help forum on Google products, several users said sending professional emails containing the famous motion picture. “I just sent an email to one of my clients with this stupid picture,” commented one user. “I have no time to laugh!” Another person even accused Google of making him lose his job, his superior had not appreciated the joke.

What a fun April Fools, I do not see at all how it could go wrong!

On Friday morning, Google has finally removed the option Gmail. “This option has caused more headaches than laughs,” apologized the company’s official blog, explaining that a “bug” was the cause of these inconveniences, without explaining the error in question . Funny coincidence, Gmail is precisely born April 1, 2004.