Google's April Fools' Day prank called Gmail Mic Drop has caused a lot of big problems for Gmail users who clicked on the button by accident when sending serious emails and could face results such as losing their jobs. The special Send button first launched in Australia attached a gif of a minion character from the "Despicable Me" movie series to e-mails. Google promised in a blog post that the message would disappear after being sent, but since it was located on the Compose window many Gmail users accidentally clicked on the little yellow creature.
Google's April 1 gif showed the minion dressed up like the queen of England while dropping a microphone. The Alphabet company promised that even if people try to respond to the special emails the sender will be unable to view it.
Web developer Andy Baio began recording some Gmail users who had suffered dire consequences due to the new button. One Gmail user reported they had sent an important email to 30 people and accidently clicked on the Mic Drop Send, then learned later what had happened.
Another person posted that they sent the funny gif to their boss instead of articles, and never received the email that included corrections to be made. The supervisor thought the worker had sent the minion image as an April Fools joke.
Yet another poster shared that they have intelligent friends who work as Google engineers. However, after clicking the Mic Drop button when emailing a customer they thought about calling up the Google employees to shout at them about the "stupid creation."
Google has announced it has disabled the 24-hour feature. It told The Guardian it regrets causing trouble for people, and that people must reload the Gmail page in order for the new Send button to disappear.
Many companies' April Fools' Day hoaxes are just one-day jokes. However, Google has a long history of actually building products it announces on April 1, according to The Guardian.
In related news a Samsung Galaxy LTD was featured in a fake ad for a big-battery smartphone. The April Fools' joke stated that the handset fits in both hands and can function as a doorstop, according to CNN.
Here are some of the best April Fools Day pranks for 2016: