A shop in Kuwait has reportedly been shut down after its owners were caught sticking ‘googly eyes’ on fish in an attempt to make them appear fresher.

Kuwaiti police shut down the fish store on Saturday as its owners were sticking googly eyes on fish to make them appear fresher than they were, the Al Bayan newspaper reported. 

Images of one of the fish, which were uploaded to Twitter on Saturday, showed the creativeness of the store’s owners, reports the Daily Mail.

One of the pictures posted online showed the fake eye slipping off the fish’s face, clearly revealing a much more yellow eye underneath. 

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Commerce closed the fish shop after it put ‘fake lenses’ on fish to make them look fresher, the newspaper in Kuwait added.

Social media users quickly mocked the shop owner’s cheeky bid to get away with selling old fish with a series of hilarious memes that went viral.

To get in on the joke, a fish company in Kuwait announced it was selling ‘fish without cosmetics’, alongside a picture of a fish and a selection of different coloured contact lenses.

Matthew Dalby said on Twitter: ‘Never judge the freshness of fish by the googliness of their eyes.’

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Commerce closed the fish shop after it put ‘fake lenses’ on fish to make them look fresher, the newspaper in Kuwait added.

Social media users quickly mocked the shop owner’s cheeky bid to get away with selling old fish with a series of hilarious memes that went viral.

To get in on the joke, a fish company in Kuwait announced it was selling ‘fish without cosmetics’, alongside a picture of a fish and a selection of different coloured contact lenses.

Matthew Dalby said on Twitter: ‘Never judge the freshness of fish by the googliness of their eyes.’

Elodie Mainze wrote: ‘That is gross, and bad business practice, but I can’t help [but] laugh at the same time. Did they honestly think people wouldn’t notice?’

Endora added: ‘I’m a huge fan of Googly Eyes on fruits, vegetables, pics of Trump...but this story is just messed up.’

One Twitter user added: ‘The intersection of people who know enough about fish to look at their eyes to judge freshness and people who would be tricked by googly eyes can’t possibly be very large?’

Another said: ‘I thought I’ve seen it all, but Twitter always proves me wrong’. 

The fish monger was advised by a social media: ‘Should have used a pritt stick if they wanted to get away with the trick.’

Some memes included images of actors such as Steve Buscemi looking cross-eyed and Ryan Gosling laughing, along with eyes stuck on pieces of fruit and animals. 

But other Twitter users praised the fish monger’s craftiness in trying to flog more of his stock with the creative presentation.

Vijay Arogyasami said: ‘Can’t knock the hustle.’

An meme of a cat with one eye that was then given a googly eye stuck on its head for a ‘confidence boost’ was also shared on social media.

One Twitter user wrote alongside a series picture of a black cat wearing a ‘googly eye’: ‘My mates cat lost his eye in a fight a while back. So he gave him a false one to give his confidence a little boost.’

Another user wrote above a picture of the ‘googly eyed’ fish: ‘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.’