Singles are sick of dating apps, opting instead for IRL events — or, as some Spanish-speaking TikTokkers have started doing, creating meet cutes at the supermarket.
Spanish TikTok is exploding with videos of singles trying to find love at supermarket chain Mercadona, BBC reports. These folks are placing upside down pineapples — a stateside symbol of swinging — in their grocery carts to signal that they’re looking for love. Another rule, according to ITV News, is to bump another cart with a pineapple if you like someone. The time to do this — “flirting hour,” as it’s apparently been dubbed — is 7 to 8 p.m.
The #mercadona hashtag on TikTok has nearly 200,000 posts at the time of publication, many of them about flirting hour. Influencers are trying it out in sparkly gowns, women are trying to signal that they’re not available if they have to shop during that time, and others are joking about whose cart they might bump into.
According to the BBC, this trend was fueled by actor and TV personality Vivy Lin, who posted a TikTok in August about hooking up at Mercadona from 7 to 8 p.m.
Someone commented on Lin’s post, “Mercatinder.” Who needs dating apps, eh?
