April Fool joke still has wings

We may be in recessionary times but people are still keen to sniff out a good business opportunity - even those that aren't really there.

On April Fool's Day, property agent Davis Coffer Lyons (DCL) "announced" that it had been instructed to roll out 1,000 new sites for a new edible insect group called 'Love Bug' that had been very successful in the States.

If alarm bells were not ringing about the name (or the number of sites), then the quote should really have given things away.

Brandon Elmon, head of agency acquisitions, said: "We definitely think this concept has legs and will fly. In five years' time, there will be swarms of them."

While a number of clients contacted DCL to commend the joke, a "substantial" number fell for it and were e-mailing for further details, such as size requirements and locations.

One property developer even suggested that the concept would be a perfect fit for a new complex it was building. A DCL agent quietly pointed out there was no such concept after all.

And, Kitchen Rat''s mole at DCL tells us, people are still ringing up and asking about it, despite this announcement on the company website.

Which begs the question - should someone actually create the concept?