[Benjamin]

A Spanish craze encouraging single people to seek partners in supermarkets by using a fruit-based code has caused some chaotic scenes and even led to the police being called to restore order.

In recent days, many single Spaniards have been drawn to branches of supermarket chain Mercadona between 7pm-8pm by claims they can find romance at that time, particularly if they put a pineapple upside down in their shopping trolley.

The phenomenon seems to have been driven in great part by the actor and humourist Vivy Lin, who posted a video on TikTok of her pushing a trolley around a Mercadona store talking about the supposed window.

“The time to hook up in Mercadona is 7pm to 8pm,” she said.



On its official TikTok account, the supermarket posted a pineapple with the caption: “The pineapple on the shelf of Mercadona waiting for you to get a date.”

The pineapple manoeuvre is reportedly completed by pushing your trolley into the wine section of the store and hoping that a person you find attractive responds positively.

As the story has gone viral, it has led to some unusual and sometimes disorderly sights.

In Madrid there have been reports of groups of teenagers pushing trolleys around stores in the evening, without buying products.

One man was dressed as a giant pineapple by his friends inside a store as part of his bachelor party celebrations.

In Bilbao, police were called to a branch of Mercadona during the 7pm-8pm time slot because of rowdy scenes inside, although they were not required to intervene.

A song, circulating online, has further driven the success of the trend, with the words: “In the wine section / My heart races / Looking for someone special / That my soul needs.”

It is not the first time an upside-down pineapple has been used as a code. More traditionally, it has been used to allow people interested in swapping sexual partners, known as swinging, to find each other.

While the latest use of the fruit may have proved popular with some, there have been reports that the pineapple mania has not found favour with many Mercadona employees who are left to clear up unpurchased goods.

One video showed a worker pushing boxes of the fruit away from shelves and towards a storeroom as 7pm approached.

The company says the trend was "not launched by us, it has come about spontaneously”.

Some observers have taken a critical view.

“Falling into the clutches of a campaign designed through social media may be innocent, as is the case with ‘Pineapple-gate’, with all the jokes and childishness that it generates,” wrote social commentator Susana Quadrado in La Vanguardia newspaper.

But she warned it also showed how the virtual world “can condition social behaviour and turn users into loudspeakers for free”.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rx2xvj237o

[Niamh.]

I'd hate to be single

[UserSince2005]

Mercadonas are one of my favourite places on this planet

[thesheriff443]

I’d have two coconuts and a banana in my basket

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by thesheriff443

I’d have two coconuts and a banana in my basket

Tbh how desperate are some people to find love?

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock

Tbh how desperate are some people to find love?

Modern dating seems horrible. Glad I am married.

[Benjamin]

Back in my day we just used dating apps, none of this modern day pineapple technology .

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Back in my day we just used dating apps, none of this modern day pineapple technology .

…swipe right with Apple but for pineapple…?…

…they sell lovely small crates of fruit and I’m pretty sure that I’ve bought a pineapple there as well at times…I would never put anything upside down in the trolley, though…/OCD….

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Maru

Modern dating seems horrible. Glad I am married.

I'm glad that I'm single at this point.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Back in my day we just used dating apps, none of this modern day pineapple technology .

Or Facebook it seems.

They actually have a dating section on their website, and I wish that I was joking.

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Maru

Modern dating seems horrible. Glad I am married.

…yeah I guess it’s also about whether you’re looking for hunks or looking for chunks…

[thesheriff443]

Originally Posted by Ammi

…yeah I guess it’s also about whether you’re looking for hunks or looking for chunks…

Or a slice of the action

[Mystic Mock]

Why not all three?
@Ammi @thesheriff443

[Crimson Dynamo]

I always bring my "lucky pepper" when I go to the local Lidl

Spoiler:

I can cause quite a flap down the non-perishables aisle

[Beso]

Originally Posted by thesheriff443

I’d have two coconuts and a banana in my basket

2 watermelons and a cucumber for me.

[UserSince2005]

4 cumberland sausages and a pint of milk for me.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Maru

Modern dating seems horrible. Glad I am married.

Yes, me too. But I think if I was single, I wouldn't be trawling round a supermarket looking for love. I think some people just can't be alone.

[thesheriff443]

Originally Posted by Beso

2 watermelons and a cucumber for me.

Probably get a lot of men coming your way

[arista]

Originally Posted by thesheriff443

Probably get a lot of men coming your way

Yes Very True

[Cherie]

its a bit of fun I guess, not great if you are trying just to do your shopping though, Consum would never

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Cherie

its a bit of fun I guess, not great if you are trying just to do your shopping though, Consum would never

Especially if you actually wanted a pineapple and accidentally put in your trolley upside down.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Especially if you actually wanted a pineapple and accidentally put in your trolley upside down.

I would be beating them off with my handbag

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Cherie

I would be beating them off with my handbag

[Maru]

Originally Posted by Livia

Yes, me too. But I think if I was single, I wouldn't be trawling round a supermarket looking for love. I think some people just can't be alone.

Yup. It's either there's no spontaneity or it's people trying to be a meme... well I guess I'll be single forever, then

Originally Posted by Mystic Mock

I'm glad that I'm single at this point.

It's totally worth finding your person. That much I can say. I just think (from my point of view, anyway... massive of grain of salt, etc), life is way too complicated now. It's complicated relationships, friendships, every aspect of "doing stuff"... there's more barriers for entry that make the opportunities for sporadic "socializing" more difficult... so people now create these planned sporadic socializings ... I'm waiting for the day when breathing air costs money too. I can see the young really feeling that. It's almost like life is becoming an amusement park for "old people" (an exaggeration, I mean people 35+) who have higher incomes already where everything is priced as such (just for entry...)... meanwhile, children and younger folk are being left behind. And yet young folk desperately need independence, and should be encouraged to have it early, but it's near impossible to achieve that. And in American particularly, we have our homes sized and structured as such where kids can squirrel away for hours on end never seeing another person... by the time they "get away", it's too late, the incentives are not there and it's much harder to experience that personal growth... it's convenient if you're a techy/loner type though. I moved out a day after I turned 20 (with now hubby) and I credit that for so much of my personal prosperity and cherish my independence to that extent. Even though I worked and struggled for a lot of that time after. Anyway, random brain dump and it may have no bearing on anyone's life here... but I do feel sad about the opportunities that seem less now to "get out" and just enjoy being young people, on the whole... then they won't be social weirdos at 30+ acting out life's romance on the internet for a quick bit on a livestream... TLDR: blah blah blah

[Mystic Mock]

I'm just trying to picture finding my person.

It probably means one of two things.

1. They're ****ed up like me lol.

2. They're going to try to change me, and thus pissing me off.

I could see either outcome being possible.