Perhaps Google should've seen this one coming. For April Fools Day, that annual celebration of brand desperation, Google's Gmail team debuted the "Mic Drop" feature. A bright orange button next to the regular send button would let you send your message and attach a little GIF of a minion dropping the mic.
Google has issued a bit of a formal apology and bit of an explanation of what they were thinking and how it all went wrong. You can give it a read on the Official Gmail Blog.
Hilarious! Except when you don't see the pop-up warning and accidentally attach whimsical animations to an important work-related email. Gmail's support forum is packed with posts from angry users, including some purporting to have missed out on career opportunities or even lost their job over an inappropriately timed dropping of the mic.
The situation wasn't helped by the Mic Drop button having taken over the spot usually reserved for "Send and Archive" in Gmail's web interface. If you're used to hitting this button, muscle memory could have easily led you astray. When you're talking about a service relied on by hundreds of millions of people, that's a recipe for bad times.
As such, it's now been pulled, leaving "Mic Drop" as yet another cautionary tale for major tech firms on April 1.
Stay safe out there.
MORE: Android-related brands attempt to do comedy
