They were always nonsensical and certainly not graphic or directed at any actual mothers but one person randomly got super mad about it and complained to upper management and such jokes were explicitly banned on company property.
Then the nerf guns were banned.
Then all lights had to be on 100% migrane inducing brightness.
Then all desks had to be clean and free of any non-essential objects.
Most of engineering quit around that point.
The difference between a joke and bullying is that if it's a joke, the mark gets a laugh out of it as well.
Also that the honor of being the mark rotates around the group somewhat fairly. If you're either never the butt of the joke, or always the butt of the joke, you know that the people around you either don't respect or trust you.
Not really. You never know if they genuinely laugh or if it’s a way to attenuate the group pressure they’re the victime of.
No, I'd never take the piss like that..... not even out of gingers.
(BTW: Quality piss taking is expected in the UK, to the extent a US HR department would probably have a fit, and probably the moderators of this US dominated forum for the above joke!)
I would, although as with everything it's context dependent. My boss is African and has on more than one occasion got my name mixed up with another colleague (we're white). In a meeting he did it again, realised his mistake and was on the verge of saying something but caught himself. I offered in mock outrage - "Well, all white people look alike - is that it?" to which he burst out laughing as that was exactly what he was going to say. But that kind of humour (whether it's funny or not) is not at anyone's expense. It also took place between colleagues who have worked together for years now and in a setting we're reasonably sure no-one is going to take offence.