Google Trends Expert, Sarah Armstrong joins me to speak about April’s top search trends in entertainment, culture, science, odd news, sports and what are the driving interest behind those searches.
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Mason Vera Paine & Sarah Armstrong: April Trends Transcription
00 :00 – Announcer: Mason Vera Paine
00:00 – Mason Paine: Sarah Armstrong, Google Trends expert, joins me to speak about the things trending in entertainment, culture, science, odd news, sports, and food. Thanks for joining me, Sarah.
00:10 – Sarah Armstrong: Thank you for having me.
00:12 – Mason Paine: So there’s been a lot of things that happened this past month. Tell me, what has been trending, though?
00:17 – Sarah Armstrong: Right. So we’ve seen lots of different trends around entertainment, culture, sports, lots of religious holidays in April. We see that every year with Passover, Easter, and Eid. Tax season is April. Then we saw some fun trends like Coachella, the Bobby movie, NBA. So lots to talk about.
00:35 – Mason Paine: Oh, my God. Can we start off with the Bobby movie? I don’t know about you, but I was weirdly excited about it.
00:41 – Sarah Armstrong: Yes, I’m so glad you’re starting there. I am very excited for the Bobby movie. I’m a huge Greta Gerwood fan. She’s directing the film. She also directed Lady Bird and Little Women. It is a stacked cast, so we’re seeing a lot of searches around it, and there’s a lot of hype on social media as well.
00:57 – Mason Paine: I saw the trailer and I thought to myself, this reminds me a lot of the Lego movie where it’s a kid playing with toys. I wonder if this is the same direction because it has that feel.
1:09 – Sarah Armstrong: Right. So the trailer didn’t give much away about the plot, but there’s a lot of theories spinning up about it. I think yours is really good. I also wonder if there’s a Wizard of Oz theme to it because they had some hints that a Wizard of Oz imagery throughout the trailer, but no one’s really sure what the plot is going to be.
1:27 – Mason Paine: So I’m curious, though, besides the movie, did Barbie itself become trending as well?
1:31 – Sarah Armstrong: Yes, Bobby was absolutely trending. We looked at some of those top questions that people ask about Bobby. The top one was how old is the Bobby doll? People think that the doll is supposed to be in her 20s. When was Bobby first made? That’s 1959. So very old toy, but it keeps coming back again and again.
1:53 – Mason Paine: I can’t remember her full name. Isn’t it Barbara Maleficent or Melissa Lindt or something like that?
2:00 – Sarah Armstrong: Yes. Melissa Roberts is the full name.
2:05 – Mason Paine: Yeah. I was getting confused with the Disney movie Maleficent.
2:09 – Sarah Armstrong: Yeah, totally fair.
2:11 – Mason Paine: Besides that in entertainment, Coachella, that’s a huge thing in April. I’m curious, did you go?
2:16 – Sarah Armstrong: I didn’t go. I’m pretty jealous of everyone who went though because it looked really fun. I’d somehow never been to Coachella, but it looks like 250,000 people go every year over the two weekends. So definitely a popular event.
2:30 – Mason Paine: Absolutely. I’ve known a few people who have went, but nobody has really talked about the food. And this past week, I was looking at videos of people who are eating at Coachella, and they’re like spending $40 on their three Tacos. And I was like, That right there is a violation of human rights. There’s no way a taco should be $40.
2:52 – Sarah Armstrong: Right. I bet it’s so expensive. I worry about the weather. I know it gets really hot and it’s sandy out there, but people seem to really love it. We’re seeing a big spike for when do Coachella tickets go on sale in 2024. So it looks like folks are already trying to. Get back there.
3:07 – Mason Paine: Yeah, right. They’re like, I’ll spend that $40 on some tokitos. I am curious, though, when it comes to Coachella, there’s this big thing with Frank Ocean. Do you know what happened?
3:17 – Sarah Armstrong: Right. Frank Ocean, he’s actually the top trending Coachella performer right now. My understanding is that he struggled quite a bit in his headlining performance the first weekend and then actually dropped out of the second weekend and was replaced by Blink 182. So lots of questions around what happened there for sure.
3:35 – Mason Paine: Yeah, the only thing I heard of was an ice rink that was supposed to be on the second weekend. And they had to, obviously, because he wasn’t performing, they had to nix the whole thing. But the ice rink and all the production altogether was like $4 million. And it’s just because he didn’t do his performance, it was just sinking funds right there. It was going nowhere. I was shocked. About that.
3:57 – Sarah Armstrong: Wow, that’s wild. I know I heard he hired professional ice skaters and everything, so that must have been very surprising. I understand why there were a lot of questions about that. The other big person we saw trending for Coachella was Bad Bunny, but we see him trending all the time. Coachella being no exception. So lots of people excited to see him there.
4:15 – Mason Paine: Yeah, right? That’s so true. Bad Bunny does trend a lot in the music industry for all the things that he does and for his musical career, too. So it’s funny when he trends, I really don’t pay attention to it.
4:26 – Sarah Armstrong: Right. You’re like, Of course, he’s trending again. He’s always trending. But yeah, people are very excited to see him back at Coachella.
4:31 – Mason Paine: Now, the other thing I wanted to talk to you about, because you spoke about it was Passover and Easter. Do you celebrate either?
4:38 – Sarah Armstrong: So Easter, I’ve celebrated Passover once with a friend’s family and had a great time. Lots of folks were asking, when is Passover? What do you say for Passover? I’ll spare you my butcher’s presentation of what you’re supposed to reply. But yeah, breakout searches around Passover. Seder, do you celebrate Passover Easter?
4:54 – Mason Paine: Easter, do Easter, but man, I’m not very good at it. All we do is the Easter egg hunt, and that’s it. That’s where it ends.
5:01 – Sarah Armstrong: Well, chocolate bunnies were searched at a record high this month. So chocolate, of course, always popular around Easter, but something about this Easter, in particular, lots of chocolate bunnies things to do.
5:12 – Mason Paine: Now, I don’t know how old you are, but when I was a kid, one of the things that people would do is buy live chickens or live ducks. And I’m just curious, do people do that anymore? I don’t think it’s done anymore, right? That was animal.
5:25 – Sarah Armstrong: No way. I grew up in a city, so I think live chickens would have been quite the production in a more urban environment, but I’m not sure. That would be quite the sight.
5:37 – Mason Paine: Yeah, we did it one time. And I’m trying to remember, what did we do with the chicken? Afterwards? Yeah. I don’t know. Did my mom just give it to someone or did we give it back to people? I don’t know. I’m going to have to call her up and ask what happened to that little chicken.
5:53 – Sarah Armstrong: Fresh Easter egg sounds pretty cool, though.
5:55 – Mason Paine: Yeah, right. What else happens in April? Taxes. Did you do your taxes yet? Everybody did their taxes at this point, right?
6:02 – Sarah Armstrong: I did my taxes. It sounds like most people did not want to do their taxes. One of the most huge questions was what happens if you don’t file taxes? If you file taxes late, when’s the deadline? So it seems like folks are pretty down to the wire on this one.
6:18 – Mason Paine: So I have a story for that. I got audited once, and this is when I was way younger. It was horrible. I was so scared. And I was probably doing all of mine at H&R Block, doing it right there. So I’m like, Who do I call? I had to go to an actual accountant, and it turned out the government owed me money for that audit. So that was a really nice surprise. But ever since then… Oh, that.
6:41 – Sarah Armstrong: Is a nice surprise.
6:42 – Mason Paine: It’s stressful. I was like, Oh, geez, thank you. Thank you, Lord. Because I didn’t want to be audited like that. But afterwards, I always now do my taxes super early. And one year, I try to do my taxes in January, and my accountant said, No, you can’t do it that early. You have to wait until at least March. So there is a possibility that if you do it too early, your accountant won’t do it.
7:06 – Sarah Armstrong: Okay, that’s good to know. Yeah, it took me a bit this year because I went to one tax provider and they said I owed a ton of money, and I went to another and they said that I was owed a bunch of money by the government. So I went with that one.
7:18 – Mason Paine: Absolutely, right. You want to hear that you’re getting something back now that, you owe.
7:22 – Sarah Armstrong: Yeah, that feels better.
7:24 – Mason Paine: Right. Oh, man. What else happened in April? Earth Day.
7:29 – Sarah Armstrong: Yeah, we had Earth Day, always a popular one. Lots of interest around recycling. We looked at what different states were recycling the most. Tv is being a popular one. Electronics, in general, computers. Mattresses stood out to me as something that folks were wanting to recycle. Of course, we saw cans and bottles as well. And then National Park Week, bringing in that Earth Day theme that happened this month. Folks researching what days they can get into the national parks for free, April 22nd being one of them. So folks trying to get outdoors this month.
8:04 – Mason Paine: Well, that’s pretty cool. And I will have to say the mattress did pique my interest. Can you recycle mattresses? Now I want to know.
8:11 – Sarah Armstrong: You must be able to if it’s that part. I would hope so. I mean, that’s quite a big item to just be sitting in a landfill. So if you’re able to recycle them, that’s really great.
8:21 – Mason Paine: Right. Because I think about all the mattresses I’ve seen in the garbage, like in the alleyways. And I’m like, man, that would be nice to be able to just be like, hey, recycle that.
8:31 – Sarah Armstrong: And a mattress is something that you really don’t want to buy secondhand, unlike maybe clothes or electronics. So hopefully there’s something good we. Can do with those.
8:41 – Mason Paine: Yeah, right. Trying to see, odd news. I always love, what did you get for odd news?
8:46 – Sarah Armstrong: Yeah, we saw a lot of searches around nail art. So people being really creative with their manicures. This is a trending topic on YouTube, actually. We’re seeing a lot of videos being created, folks showing off their very elaborate nails. Nail designs, nail art templates, flower, rose, marble, lots of different creative topics around nails.
9:09 – Mason Paine: Have you ever tried doing that stuff? I’m just curious.
9:12 – Sarah Armstrong: I haven’t. I’m fascinated. I do follow a couple of people on social media who go all out with their nails. I think it would get in the way. It seems very long, but it’s cool to look at.
9:23 – Mason Paine: Oh, my God. I do too. And I don’t even get my nails done at all. I just like watching people do it.
9:28 – Sarah Armstrong: Totally. It’s like an art form. I’m personally not that into it, but it’s fun to see other people do it.
9:34 – Mason Paine: Right. I’m just so curious, do they wear those magnifying glasses so that they could look at the nail art and be like… Because I can’t imagine their face. There’s a camera above the nail, and then their face is right by it. Or do they have really good eyesight?
9:49 – Sarah Armstrong: Right. How are they filming all these videos? And I love seeing these YouTube videos around cultural moments for their nails. So they’ll be like World Cup team nails or popular songs themed with the nails. It’s very funny.
10:03 – Mason Paine: Movie themed, TV show theme. I like it, too. The interpretation of it. And you’re right, it’s like an art form. Now, I am curious, B A Playoffs, has that been trending at all?
10:13 – Sarah Armstrong: It’s absolutely trending. The big thing we saw here was the NBA scoring record. So the Warriors had a scoring record in their recent game, and it really spiked on search interest. So we saw searches like NBA playoff scoring record, single game, breakout search, or most points in NBA playoff game by nearly 4,000 %. So people are very excited about that.
10:34 – Mason Paine: Yeah, man, I’m excited for the playoffs. This whole thing has been a weird upset thing. The only one I know that has been going according to plan was Denver Nuggets. They sealed the next bracket. I’m shocked that it’s not just the playoffs, it’s the NBA scoring records.
10:52 – Sarah Armstrong: Yeah. And if you go to Google. Com trends, we actually break out NBA playoffs as a film of a micro site because those trends can get continue to change rapidly with every single game. So the team that might be on top one day might be towards the bottom another day. So it’s fun to track. But the trends that we’re seeing at the top of that right now are on the scoring record. I’m interested to check back in with this next month as it progresses and see who’s trending.
11:18 – Mason Paine: I’m curious, also, I know the NHL, the Stanley Cup happened too during this time. Was that trending at all?
11:24 – Sarah Armstrong: I bet it was. I didn’t pull an NHL trend, but maybe I should next month. Do you follow NHL?
11:31 – Mason Paine: No, actually, I don’t. But it’s Stanley Cup. So whenever there’s a championship, I’m like, okay, is this happening? Did any other sports jump up? Because a lot of sports are ending right now.
11:42 – Sarah Armstrong: Yeah. Anytime there’s those big cups, big tournaments, you’re, of course, going to see them trending. Lots of folks going to search to get more information on the latest. Golf was one that was trending. I’m not a huge follower of golf, but we saw Masters tournament, really spiking in the trend. People curious about Masters Payout, the leader board, who’s doing the best there. And then a lot of questions just about the golf rules in general. That’s probably more what I’m searching. So what is mean in golf? So what does a handicap mean in par for all of us.
12:09 – Mason Paine: Yeah. What’s a birdie? I don’t know what that is.
12:12 – Sarah Armstrong: Right. And that doesn’t make the top five. The top five, what does blank mean in golf or handicap, par for up and down, and E. E?
12:21 – Mason Paine: No birdie? I guess I’m the only one who doesn’t know what a birdie is.
12:24 – Sarah Armstrong: It stands for even par. That’s what E is.
12:28 – Mason Paine: All right. That’s okay. I don’t know either of those. Definitely something I need to look up.
12:33 – Sarah Armstrong: Yeah, I’ll study that a little more.
12:35 – Mason Paine: Now, one sports I did see trending by myself was pickle ball. What is that? Why is it trending? What’s going on?
12:43 – Sarah Armstrong: So pickle ball… We saw spike this time last year, actually. It’s like a small tennis or badminton, like a smaller tennis court that moves pretty fast and smaller rackets. It became really popular, I remember, last April. But now it’s hitting an all time high search interest. That’s probably because the weather is getting warmer, folks learned how to play pick a ball last year, now they’re ready to go out and go to sports.
13:07 – Mason Paine: I am curious, usually there’s something about food that’s trending. Was there anything trending for food this month?
13:14 – Sarah Armstrong: Yes. Well, National Burrito Day was this month. I don’t know if you celebrate it. I love a good burrito. I looked at trending burrito places in Chicago. La Cantina is the most popular one according to Google Maps data. But yes, lots of folks searching for burritos. And we like to look at which states have the most searches for burritos. Colorado actually takes the spot there.
13:36 – Mason Paine: No way. Does that mean they don’t have a lot of burritos so they have to look for it? Or does that mean that they’re totally interested in it?
13:45 – Sarah Armstrong: That’s maps data. So they’re a lot of looking for burritos near me. So maybe they don’t know where to get their burritos. So they’re looking for that. Poor people. Chipotle is the top-rated burrito chain in the country, according to the maps data.
13:59 – Mason Paine: Wow. I’m surprised about that Chipotle. I went there one time and I didn’t like it very much. And I’ll go back to my shack Mexican restaurant whenever I can. You always find that one Mexican restaurant that has like two-dollar tacos. And you’re like, it’s the bee’s knees.
14:16 – Sarah Armstrong: Totally. And yeah, you can’t go anywhere else once you find it.
14:19 – Mason Paine: Right, exactly. Well, thank you, Sarah. I really appreciate you being here. And for those listening, where can they find all these trends at?
14:27 – Sarah Armstrong: Yeah, thanks, Mason. You can find the trends at Google. Com trends.
14:31 – Announcer: This has been the Mason Vera Paine Show. Thanks for listening.
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