In an increasingly polarised world of angry protests and violent clashes with police, this was a refreshing stunt with just a couple of kids some pudding pots and forks.
A mass of Gen Z youngsters assembled in central London to take part in a viral trend which has become an avant-garde sensation in Germany.
Called ‘Pudding mit Gabel’, rebellious teens are subverting a centuries-old norm by eating desserts with a fork, and not a spoon.
The Leicester Square crowd had all heard a call on TikTok to join the viral sensation, and quickly made up their minds about which utensil is superior for devouring sweet treats.
The craze began when a flyer inviting strangers to eat pudding with a fork in a park in Karlsruhe, south west Germany, was spotted online.
The idea soon spread like wildfire, with thousands of youngsters meeting in cities and towns throughout Germany and Austria, such as Hamburg, Hanover, Vienna and Berlin.
It made its way to the UK when Lucy Josephs, a new employee at Marketing Agency Lasting Lemons, thought London were missing out on the phenomenon.
She told Metro: ‘I saw it going viral and I thought “that is such a rogue trend” and it is fun to be ahead of the trends.
‘I really doubted it, I did not think anyone would come, we almost went to the pub instead.’
The agency put out an appeal on their TikTok page for people to come along, and at least 20 responded in turn.
Surrounded by a group of girls in their 20s clutching pudding pots, Lucy explained: ‘It is such a Gen Z thing. People want to come together to do something silly and build a community.’
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‘We should make this a weekly thing and eventually it’ll attract thousands of people.’
Students Hope Lewthwaite and Ella Murray, both 22, decided to drop by after seeing the hype on TikTok.
Hope finished eating her Alpro vanilla custard pot with a fork before telling Metro: ‘We just wanted to socialise. It is a nice third space, which we don’t have any of anymore.
‘You can meet people without having to actually put a lot of money into it.’
Ella, who goes to SOAS University, went to meet new friends in the capital, but came away convinced by the new dessert-eating trick.
She said: ‘Eating with a fork is something I will adopt quite regularly from now on.’
The largest contingent at the Leicester Square fork-a-thon were Germans themselves who were devastated to have missed the trend as it swept their home country.
Salma Bilici, who has just started working as an au pair, said the new fork fad has political undertones back home.
Through bites of a Dairy Milk chocolate pot, she told Metro: ‘German youngsters want to oppose the norm and oppose the system, that is why a lot of young people go. I don’t think it would appeal in every country.
‘Some people are saying on TikTok that it is a leftist thing to do.
‘People also yearn for community and want to meet other people as well. Even through pudding with a fork.’
New pal Hannah, who is visiting London on her travels, had not eaten dessert for 10 years before the ‘Pudding mit Gabel’ hype blew up.
She said one of her friends got so excited that they made a two-liter tub of pudding and brought it to one of the gatherings in a park in Cologne.
Not all Germans are convinced, though.
Maria, also on her travels in London, devoured a Monte pudding pot with a wooden fork before proclaiming: ‘I prefer eating pudding with a spoon, it is easier with a spoon.’
During a lighthearted hour sat on the Leicester Square green, the only point of tension which erupted was over the definition of a pudding.
The German contingent were clear: ‘Pudding is liquidy and jiggly, with the cream on top. It is not yoghurt,’ Maria said.
As for the chocolate mousse brought along by Metro reporter Luke, that was derided as not a pudding in the slightest.
That didn’t stop him tucking in with a fork, with the Sainsbury’s dessert going down a treat.
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