Google again abandoned April Fools’ giveaways

Google canceled its infamous April Fools’ Day Giveaways for the second year in a row due to the pandemic. In an internal letter to managers in early March, reviewed by Business Insider reporters, the search giant said the company would “pause jokes” in light of the difficulties and disruptions caused by COVID-19 over the past year.

The company’s April Fools’ pranks have traditionally been highly sophisticated and elaborate, with some even the subject of technical legends – including a fake human colony on Mars, a variation on Google Maps treasure hunting, or Google Translate for Animals. Even the announcement of Gmail took place for the first time on April Fools’ Day, although not as a joke.

But in early 2020, a wave of quarantine measures against COVID-19 swept across the globe, and Google decided to abandon such pranks and is following the same decision this year.

Google VP of Global Marketing Marvin Chow wrote in an email earlier this month: “Over the past year, I have been so inspired by how useful our products, programs, and people have been during the most difficult times of humanity. We do this with sensitivity and compassion in response to the range of difficult experiences that many worldwide are experiencing. As you remember, last year, we decided to suspend Google’s longstanding tradition of celebrating April Fools’ Day out of respect for all those fighting COVID.-19. With much of the world still facing serious challenges, we believe that we should put the April Fools’ joke on hold again this year. As in the past year, we must continue to find suitable ways to bring joy to our users throughout the year (for example, through Doodles, Easter eggs, and so on). “

Some of Google’s jokes have been criticized in the past. In 2016, the company added a “mic drop” button to Gmail, which inserted a GIF of a Despicable Me minion into emails before sending them. Google hastily scrapped the joke after numerous users complained about accidentally clicking on it and including an inappropriate comedic image in their work correspondence.