From 7 to 8 p.m. is the new "flirting hour" at a well-known Spanish supermarket chain, according to a trend that is sweeping social networks, which even has established codes of conduct to show whether you are looking for a lasting relationship or something more casual.
"If I put a pineapple upside down, it means I'm looking for a fling, and with a melon, I want someone to put a wedding ring on me," says one user on Instagram with a laugh after going to a supermarket chain with her son to see if the trend, which has ignited social networks in Spain in just a few hours, is really true.
Another X user went to Mercadona, the supermarket chain where the joke started, to see if he could find people flirting: "You're not going to believe it, but it's real," he wrote in a message along with a video showing several pineapples scattered around different aisles of the store.
The phenomenon transcends social networks
The phenomenon, which some consider an advertising campaign by the chain and which others have joined to advertise their products, has transcended social networks and has also become a topic of conversation in offices, among co-workers, and groups of friends.
"If you put bottles of oil in the cart, you're looking for a rich guy," exemplifies María to EFE, a young resident of Madrid who explains that "there's a whole complete code of what you put (in the shopping cart) depending on what you're looking for."
Carlos says that this Wednesday this was the topic of conversation in his office in the Spanish capital and he enjoys adding elaborations on the code of the products in the shopping and their meaning in supermarket interactions.
"Lentils must be a more serious relationship because it's clearly a homemade, more homely meal. If you put a pre-made pizza, it's something more casual," he ventures.
Jokes and memes
Daniel jokes that "maybe I'll go this afternoon to see what's cooking" in his supermarket in A Coruña (Galicia, northern Spain).
And the joke has already reached many other companies, and depending on them, there is a different time to try your luck in love.
Thus, those interested in flirting among cans of preserves, fruits, vegetables, meats, or fish can, according to the memes, look for their future lover or partner practically throughout the day.
They could start the day, according to one of the jokes spread on the internet, at the national chain Dia, which "offers" hours for the earliest risers, from 10 to 11 a.m.; then they could (only the Galicians) go to the regional Froiz, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.; at the German chain Lidl the hour is from 6 to 7 p.m.; at Mercadona from 7 to 8 p.m.; at Alcampo from 8 to 9 p.m. and at the French Carrefour from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.
And as there are different times and different supermarkets, there will also be different luck for the suitors.
A young man said on his social network that, in his first attempt, another boy had already asked for his Instagram account in the frozen food section; meanwhile, another said that she spent "three hours" in one of them, where she walked through "all the aisles," filled "the cart to the top," and didn't "flirt at all": "just a cold."