A viral trend on social media has created scenes of chaos in Spain after a user suggested that an upside down pineapple in one’s shopping cart could be used as a code to indicate an interest in romance. The trend has gained so much popularity that police have been called to restore order and grocery store employees are frustrated by the distraction.
A video was uploaded to TikTok by comic Vivy Lin where she was seen strolling around the supermarket store Mercadona. Lin suggested that the magic hour was between seven and eight in the evening and that by entering the wine section with an upside down pineapple on display in one’s cart, single people could indicate an interest in dating.
She said that folks looking to “hook up” should hang out in the grocery store in the evening. The trend became a viral sensation among Spaniards. The more trendy the phenomenon, the more people create additional content with the theme.
One man wore a giant pineapple costume and was taken to a Mercadona by his friends during his bachelor party. Police in Bilbao arrived at the scene of another Mercadona store after employees reported rowdy youngsters. No arrests were reported, however.
Another user made a viral song that elaborated that the store’s wine section could be used to look “for someone special.”
Curiously, an upside-down pineapple has previously been used by couples to indicate an interest in swinging; traditionally understood as wife-swapping among heterosexuals.
Mercadona employees are frustrated by the fact that their workplace has become the scene of cruising and juvenile antics. A lot of fruit is abused and left unpurchased. Some stores have begun to remove pineapples from the public section of the store in the evenings to avoid the entire thing.
Representatives of Mercadona told the corporate press that the spontaneous trend wasn’t something they were hoping to foster. Spanish media has referred to the situation as “Pineapple-gate.”
Writer Susana Quadrado commented that the phenomenon was a poignant reminder of how real world behavior can be conditioned by social media trends.
