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[CyberPanda]

https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/27/18283674/microsoft-april-fools-day-ban-pranks-internal-memo

Everyone hates April Fools' Day, and Microsoft is taking a stand against its own corporate pranks. Microsoft's marketing chief Chris Capossela has warned all employees to not participate in the process of annoying hoaxes on Monday. In an internal memo, obtained and verified by The Verge, Capossela explains that "data tells us these stunts have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles." He encourages all teams inside Microsoft not to do any public-facing April Fools' 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," says Capossela. That's probably a safe bet, as we've seen some April Fools' Day pranks backfire spectacularly in the past. Google was forced to apologize for adding Despicable Me minions into emails and muting threads a few years ago, causing email havoc for Gmail users. Microsoft has also participated in many April Fools' Day pranks over the years, including an MS-DOS mobile for Windows Phone and Google insults.

 

[ALIEN-gunner]

That's the joke.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Considering the SJW backlash if the prank was something that remotely resembles anything offensive, it's not worth it.

 

[Dice]

I never liked Sociopath Awareness Day/White Knight-a-Jackass Day/Destroy Trust Day/Waste-Time-Ignoring-Everything-For-A-Week-Because-So-Many-People-Don't-Understand-It-Isn't-a-Seasonal-Thing Month.

 

[LegendOfKage]

So just do a prank on April 2nd, then.

 

[CyberPanda]

So just do a prank on April 2nd, then.

Don't let MS see this.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

No fun please, it's the 2010s.

 

[nkarafo]

That's the joke.

Just out of season.

 

[Lucumo]

Good, at least the marketing chief got it right.

 

[Solomeena]

Good, at least the marketing chief got it right.

I'm glad you are for censorship, what else do you want us to censor? I bet you like to censor comedy if it is controversial as well huh? How about banning book? I bet you are all for Hitler style book burnings.

 

[michaelius]

Good I hate whole net being flooded with bad quality jokes from companies.

Sometimes good one happen but that's like trying to find solid game in current EA output

 

[Shifty]

I never liked Sociopath Awareness Day/White Knight-a-Jackass Day/Destroy Trust Day/Waste-Time-Ignoring-Everything-For-A-Week-Because-So-Many-People-Don't-Understand-It-Isn't-a-Seasonal-Thing Month.

These are too good

And you're right. I'll enjoy a goofy april fools joke production (ex. NES Google Maps) as much as the next guy, but we don't need a public holiday specifically to enable the Just A Prank Bro crew.

 

[Lucumo]

I'm glad you are for censorship, what else do you want us to censor? I bet you like to censor comedy if it is controversial as well huh? How about banning book? I bet you are all for Hitler style book burnings.

Are you actually that detached from reality or do you have some other issues?

 

[iconmaster]

Everyone hates April Fools' Day

I actually love it. Some of the hoaxes are really creative and fun.

 

[Tesseract]

data tells us these stunts have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles

data tells us these stunts have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles

data tells us these stunts have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles

NO

FUN

ALLOWED

 

[rbanke]

For anyone old enough to remember life before the internet, April Fools jokes were fun but now its a full day of our primary means of information being basically untrustworthy (much more than usual) which overall is pretty annoying.

 

[Kamina]

Everyone hates April Fools' Day

What?

 

[plushyp]

What?

It's the Verge... what do you expect from those clowns.

 

[Kamina]

It's the Verge... what do you expect from those clowns.

So wokeness is impacting humor too? Seems like a rather serious illness considering the other symptoms (rage, social awkwardness, paranoia,...)

 

[Shifty]

I'm glad you are for censorship, what else do you want us to censor? I bet you like to censor comedy if it is controversial as well huh? How about banning book? I bet you are all for Hitler style book burnings.

You do realise throwing around the term 'censorship' in this kind of laissez-faire fashion is what causes people to stop taking the term seriously, right?

This is the kind of behaviour I'd expect from a Ree poster.

 

[Hazzard4life]

So no Surface Phone jokes either... Damn

 

[Aurelian]

Folks, this is not some kind of horrible conspiracy. Most likely it's that Microsoft realized people weren't really laughing at these gags, and that they occasionally backfire. I don't think the chance for some mild chuckling is worth all that effort.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

As long as it is not mean spirited and/or actually damaging everybody loves a good prank.

 

[nbcjr]

Google had some great ones, like the text mode video (Linux terminal) that YouTube had, or the Pac-Man Google maps.

 

[stickkidsam]

Something might not go well therefore nothing goes. After all, isn't that what growing up is all about?

 

[Kadayi]