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No ‘Fooling’ Around This April 1: Microsoft Bans Pranks, Says It Will Harm Business In Current Climate
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Richmond-based software giant Microsoft has issued an internal memo asking its workers to refrain from practical jokes and annoying hoaxes on 1 April 2019, reports LiveMint.
Chris Capossela, Marketing Chief, Microsoft, told The Verge, "Considering the headwinds the tech industry is facing today, I'm asking all teams at Microsoft to not do any public-facing April Fool’s Day stunts. I appreciate that people may have devoted time and resources to these activities, but I believe we have more to lose than gain by attempting to be funny on this one day."
Microsoft’s April Fools' Day ban comes just as the company resurrected its old office assistant Clippy for a day as an animated pack of stickers and later killed it because the "brand police" inside the company did not approve of it.
Going by history, Microsoft's concerns seem legitimate.
In 2013, Google and Microsoft poked fun at each other on this day and traded uncalled for insults. It is not just Microsoft, in 2016, Google was forced to apologise for muting email threads and adding “Despicable Me” minions into emails, causing havoc for Gmail users.
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