Google to skip April Fools’ Day pranks amid coronavirus

Google will skip its annual tradition of April Fools’ Day jokes and pranks amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company confirmed on Tuesday

Chief Marketing Officer Lorraine Twohill said in an internal email obtained by Business Insider that the tech giant would not share April Fools’ jokes across its platforms, as it normally does every year. 

Google officials made the decision as a show of respect to those fighting the virus and to live up to their vow to provide a helpful resource for accurate information during the pandemic, Twohill wrote. 

The company has halted any plans by Google’s centralized marketing team managers but wanted to ensure all managers were aware that smaller April Fools’ Day initiatives should not be carried out, Forbes reported.

Twohill reportedly wrote that the tradition will most likely return in 2021. 

A Google spokesperson told The Hill that the company would have no further comment. The tech company was one of the first in the industry to promote pranking internet users on April Fools’ Day, which falls on Wednesday this year.

Worldwide, more than 803,300 people have contracted coronavirus, leading to more than 39,000 deaths. A total of 172,657 people have recovered, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.