Mic Drop gets the last laugh on Google

When Google releases their April Fools’ Day pranks, users will often find that many of them are actual, working features albeit of dubious value. The Google Gmail team tried to do that with a new feature called Gmail Mic Drop, but the attempt appears to have taken a less than fun turn forcing Google to disable the new “feature.”

When first released as an update to the Gmail web interface, the Gmail Mic Drop replaced the Send and Archive button with a bright orange “Send + Mic Drop” button. Hitting this button when sending an email would automatically insert an animated Minion inspired gif and lock down the conversation so that your reply was the last word. It was supposed to be a fun way for users to demonstrate to recipients that they had just achieved the ultimate “last word” in a conversation.

Unfortunately for Google, users started taking advantage of this new button, possibly inadvertently, and were sending mic dropped emails as part of work threads, in response to job offers or advertisements, and other situations where a little fun was not appropriate. After being hit up with complaints from users, Google’s Gmail team realized the new feature “caused more headaches than laughs” and have turned it back off. They advise that if you still see it in your interface, you should reload the page.