Microsoft Bans Internal April Fool’s Prank

April Fool’s day is one of the more polarizing events on the calendar year. Either you love it or you absolutely hate it and the folks from Microsoft seem to be firmly in the latter section.

The Verge obtained an internal memo sent to staffers warning them to avoid such shenanigans as the impact can be more damaging than intended:

Hey everyone,
It’s that time of year when tech companies try to show their creativity with April Fools’ Day stunts. Sometimes the outcomes are amusing and sometimes they’re not. Either way, data tells us these stunts have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles.
Considering the headwinds the tech industry is facing today, I’m asking all teams at Microsoft to not 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.
Please forward to your teams and internal partners to ensure people are aware of the ask to stand down on external April Fools’ Day activities.

Chris Capossela – Microsoft’s marketing chief

With the virality that can be gained of such stunts there is a real danger of companies having serious messes to clean up and Microsoft feels they would rather deal with more pressing issues…