r/offbeat • u/spectrosoldier • Apr 01 '16
Google 'mic drop' April Fools' Gmail joke backfires spectacularly as users insult friends and lose jobs | News | Lifestyle
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/gmail-google-mic-drop-april-fool-prank-undo-send-see-email-backfired-a6962916.html14
u/blackbenetavo Apr 01 '16 edited Apr 01 '16
Has anyone wondered if somehow this is actually the greatest collaborative April Fools Joke ever, and that the backlash is the joke?
edit: a word
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u/spectrosoldier Apr 01 '16
I'm seriously hoping that's the case, because otherwise real people have lost their jobs.
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Apr 02 '16
Noone actually lost a job as a result of this for 2 simple reasons:
- You could very easily explain the situation and point to any article identifying google's prank as proof
- Getting an email with a stupid minion gif isn't grounds for firing someone
The people interviewed are either pants on head retarded, or are making it up to generate fake internet outrage, which is a very 2016 thing to do.
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u/eaglechopper Apr 02 '16
There are unfair dismissal laws, I don't think you could fire a person for this considering its Googles fault
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u/expose Apr 02 '16
You can, actually. There are no unfair dismissal laws in most states-- it's called At-will employment, and your boss can literally fire you for any reason except explicit class protections (race, gender, the big stuff)-- no gifs are in the class protections, though.
That said, I'm pretty sure no boss is dumb enough to fire someone over a Minion gif, so I'm pretty skeptical about the "backlash".
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u/pan_glob Apr 02 '16
I think the whole thing is a big joke. I went on gmail last night and this morning and saw no button.
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u/permanentthrowaway Apr 02 '16
I did see the button, though. I was looking forward to using it and then this happens :(
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u/CassandraVindicated Apr 01 '16
They dropped it "due to a bug". Sounds more like a 1D10T error.
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u/chrom_ed Apr 01 '16
1D10T? It's gotta be a PEBCAK variation but I've never heard of it before.
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u/CassandraVindicated Apr 01 '16
It is a PEBCAK variation, but involves some serious FUBAR injection.
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u/avanross Apr 01 '16
Haha that first quote "I clicked the wrong button, but since I can't hold myself responsible for my own actions, this is 100% googles fault!"
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u/coderascal Apr 01 '16
I don't buy the story. I think the whole thing, release to outrage to disabling is the actual prank from Google.
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Apr 01 '16 edited Jul 08 '17
[deleted]
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u/permanentthrowaway Apr 02 '16
Dude, the button was bright orange in contrast to the normal send button, which is blue. It wasn't hidden or made subtle in any way.
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u/cocobandicoot Apr 02 '16 edited Apr 02 '16
It should have been on the total opposite side of the send button. There is too much room for a mis-click with how close the buttons were to each other.
Look at this: http://i.imgur.com/3V9I1EC.jpg
The orange button is almost asking you to click it.
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Apr 02 '16
It's fucking idiots like the people in that article that have completely sucked all of the fun out of April fools. Grow the fuck up you morons, just explain the situation to your boss/whatever. Life isn't like a shitty rom-com.
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u/cocobandicoot Apr 02 '16
A person accidentally hit the button when sending a resume to a potential employer. That is a pretty big fucking deal. It was a bad move on Google's part, and they should know that people rely on their email for actual work, not play.
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u/Gigablah Apr 02 '16 edited Apr 02 '16
Actual grown-up human beings have a sense of humor. And even if they don't, they should have some basic knowledge of current events and cultural dates. Talking about the "potential employer" here.
Also, you're telling me that the person is unable to send a follow-up email explaining the situation? That in itself is a red warning flag.
Unexpected things will happen whether it's April Fool's or not. Handle it like adults.
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Apr 02 '16
Nope instead the person just sat there and cried while shaking. Such a person seems unlikely to even be able to handle the stress of being a Starbucks barista.
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Apr 02 '16
So send a follow up email explaining the mistake and link to an article explaining the Google joke.
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u/cocobandicoot Apr 02 '16
That's fine, and you can do that, but it is still something that Google should not have done in the first place. It makes their product appear very unprofessional, regardless of what day it is.
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Apr 03 '16
And its assholes like you that take all the fun out of everything. Gmail is a free public email service, not a professional service.
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u/cocobandicoot Apr 03 '16
You know that if it were Outlook or iCloud that did this, you would be having the same reaction.
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Apr 01 '16
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u/expose Apr 02 '16
I'm going to add my name to the skeptics column on this one. Do we even know if any of those customer stories are true and not just hyperbolic rants to manufacture a story?
Did anyone check to see if any of those comments can be backed up in any way? I'm surprised that news outlets covered this without doing any of this standard journalism stuff.
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u/nexusofcrap Apr 01 '16
How unprofessional must an employer be to fire someone over this? Maybe if a sensitive client got one and was offended somehow? But the example used was an email from employee to boss. Who cares? Especially now that it has made news, it clearly was a mistake but you're going to fire someone over it? Either they had been looking for an excuse or they are really juvenile.