The Guardian's 1 April revelation that Labour was planning to embrace Gordon Brown's reputation for anger and physical aggression with an aggressive poster campaign sparked a flurry of tweets, replicas, comments, a Facebook page ... and even a T-shirt.
However, it seems not everyone was amused by the April fool, which "revealed" a series of Labour posters bearing pugnacious messages such as "Step outside posh boy".
Lucy, a school pupil from Derbyshire (whose full name I've withheld for fear of reprisals), has been warned that she could quite literally be the one asked to "step outside" if she continues to wear a T-shirt bearing an image from the faux-election campaign.
She emails:
Dear editor,
I am 14 years old and attend a school where we have no uniform.
I have an interest in politics, and I loved the "Step outside posh boy" T-shirts so much so, on failing to win one, I bought one for myself.
However, today I have been told if I wear it again I could be sent home.
Your T-shirt is apparently "offensive" and politically biased.
This is ridiculously unfair as I bought it purposefully for school. PLEASE HELP, I want to wear my T-shirt next Thursday!
Lucy
Lucy is not the first to have fallen foul of the authorities while wearing a "posh boy" T-shirt.
Last month a teenager was reportedly told he could not enter a Q&A session with David Cameron in Brighton unless he removed the offending item of clothing or turned it inside out.
Once inside the venue, however, the determined youngster turned the garment the right way round and was abruptly spotted by Cameron himself, who shouted words to the effect of: "I want one. But they won't let me wear it."
So there are the options, Lucy: smuggle it in, or gain the backing of the leader of the Conservative party.
Or perhaps switch T-shirts to this more topical "anti-bigot" offering.
