Hefner tall tale didn't stand up

No, Hugh Hefner will not be moving to Rotorua any time soon.

Breaking news: Hugh Hefner is converting part of the Rotorua Museum into his Playboy holiday mansion, Pacific Blue airline is offering spray-tanning at 11,000m and the makers of the Mini have copyrighted the name, meaning Minnie Mouse would become Nano Mouse.

If you believed any of the above, you've been April fooled.

Companies spent up to $28,000 on full-page advertisements in yesterday's Herald tricking readers.

Perhaps the most daring was placed by the Rotorua Museum Centennial Trust. It said that within 48 hours of hearing about research on Rotorua's rotten egg smell, Hefner jumped on his private jet bound for the town.

The research by Italy's University of Naples, which featured in a Sunday newspaper last month, says a link had been discovered between hydrogen sulphide and male sexual arousal.

The advertisement points to a mock interview with Hefner on the Destination Rotorua website.

General manager Don Gunn said the joke had generated a lot of positive feedback with some people initially believing the story.

"An advertising agency saw the article in the paper and contacted us. They thought it would be a a bit of fun."

Meanwhile, an advert by Pacific Blue on the bottom of the Herald's front page said the airline had introduced a new "Bronze Class". It read: "From today, selected flights to Australia and the Pacific will offer an on-board spray-tanning booth so you can 'bronze up' before you arrive."

A full-page notice in the Herald by so-called lawyers Kurtze & Grieve declares the word 'mini' protected by international copyright law.

It provided a list of alternatives for certain words including miniskirt now becoming teenyskirt, minibus now babybus and minibar now now shorty-bar.