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posted by martyb on Monday April 01 2019, @12:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the just-kidding! dept.

Microsoft leads the way in banning April Fools' Day pranks

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.

#FakeNews?

Also at BGR.

See also: Everyone Should Follow Microsoft's Lead in Banning April Fools' Day Pranks


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  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday April 02 2019, @02:45AM

    by acid andy (1683) on Tuesday April 02 2019, @02:45AM (#823392) Homepage Journal

    How would you really tell everyone not to pull any pranks if your notification will be taken as a prank?

    At a guess, you don't. You just sack them if they do it and by next year it ought to be a non-problem. Although it could be replaced by a much bigger problem as every last talented employee quits for you being such a sanctimonious killjoy.

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