A shop in Kuwait has been shut after it was caught in the midst of a full-scale scam. Pictures posted to social media revealed something a tad fishy… the store was caught sticking googly eyes on fish to try and hook customers.

A video shared on social media by Kuwaiti newspaper Al Bayan showed a woman peeling the eyes off the fish, revealing the less aesthetically pleasing reality underneath. The paper reported that the store had been identified and shut down after the Ministry of Commerce spotted the fishmonger’s sneaky trick.

Kuwaiti police has shut down a fish store that was sticking googly eyes on fish to make them appear more fresh than they are. :-)via Al Bayan newspaper, @bayan_kw. pic.twitter.com/CcPa73fDQh — Mohamed El Dahshan (@eldahshan) September 1, 2018

The googly eye trick failed to fool anyone hook, line, and sinker. Instead, waves of Twitter users shared their delight in the devious plan to make the fish appear fresher. Instead of fooling anyone, the fishy plan achieved cult status on social media, with users turning it into a meme.

When you've had your Monday morning coffee vs before https://t.co/HNDGTBAqVK — Dan Smith (@0DanSmith) September 3, 2018

Reminds me of this pic.twitter.com/WB4hNXLpDb — Lil HeftyChonk (@_AnishaD) September 1, 2018

me when i take off my eye mask after waking up for work and realize that i have to be alive and functioning in the world in less than an hour pic.twitter.com/IW8NSpn2Pb — modest louse (@prinsessidiot) September 2, 2018

Others praised the fishmonger for his failed plan. Others just referred back to the age-old adage: “Never judge the freshness of fish by the googliness of their eyes.”

Never judge the freshness of fish by the googliness of their eyes. https://t.co/hW50lwpwCz — Matthew Dalby, PhD (@MatthewJDalby) September 1, 2018

Buy a fish, get a free pair of googly eyes. Bargain! — Jayneel Ramjee (@jramjee) September 1, 2018

I just really wanna know who had the brilliant idea of putting google eyes on their fish I just wanna talk https://t.co/jtCihaFS3M — V (@Valerynicoleee) September 2, 2018

im crying lmaoo who thought “lets put google eyes on the fish” https://t.co/6iuXNNJZQq — mj (@ethereaIparker) September 2, 2018

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