What were people searching for this awards season? From Oscar snubs to SAG Award winners and Grammy highlights, Google’s Charity Mhende gives us the breakdown of February’s biggest entertainment searches.
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Google Trends Transcription
0:00 – Announcer: Mason Vera Paine.
0:01 – Mason: The month of February has come to an end, and to explain all the top trends for this month with us is Google Trends Expert, Charity Mhende. Thanks for joining me, Charity.
0:10 – Charity: Thank you for having me.
0:11 – Mason: For February, what was the biggest trending thing?
0:14 – Charity: Well, New York Fashion Week happened this past month. People were searching for all things clothing, fashion, and style. One of the most interesting trends was people searching for Calvin Klein as the top four collection and fashion show. Calvin Klein came back after five years to show their collection, and they also have a new creative director, which sparked a lot of interest from people across the country.
0:38 – Mason: Pretty neat. By any chance, did you see any of the pictures? I tried looking things up. I couldn’t really find anything other than Brandon Fraser geeking out about his son being on the runway.
0:48 – Charity: I mean, it’s always really interesting to see what comes up both in terms of street style and on the runway. One of my favorite things to do, especially on social media, is to use Google AI to search for what you see on your screen. If you see something on the runway, you can actually see how to shop for it yourself based on what you can find on Google’s AI.
1:08 – Mason: That’s pretty nifty. Is there anything else that happened entertainment-wise?
1:13 – Charity: Yes. People were searching for the Oscars. They weren’t this month, but the SAG Awards also happened this past month. People were searching for things like Oscar snubs when the nominations came out. Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie were among the top two trending snub searches. People were also asking, has Timothée Chalamet won an Oscar? That was a top trending question related to the Oscars, and he hasn’t yet, but we’re looking forward to seeing what happens next month.
1:39 – Mason: Oh my God. I didn’t even know the SAG Awards happened. February is packed. There was so much, the Super Bowl.
1:46 – Charity: In terms of the Super Bowl, there was a lot of interest because of, obviously, the halftime performance. People were searching also for questions related to Kendrick Lamar and the lyrics, but there were also questions during the match. Specifically, they were looking for game results. They were also looking for information on people like Tom Brady and everything related to the game.
2:06 – Mason: Yeah, right. Then with Kendrick Lamar, he just came off of winning Record of the Year, and it’s like the Grammys just happened. Did that trend at all, the Grammys?
2:16 – Charity: We see trends on award shows and different things that happen in the news all the time. What’s really interesting is how people come to Google to search for culture. This past month, we also saw a lot of questions around Black History Month. As you know, one of the key things is people are looking for Black activists like Martin Luther King, Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks. People come and ask all sorts of different things based on what’s happening at that time.
2:41 – Mason: Yeah, something I learned last year, I didn’t know that was a thing, but for all months, there’s a theme. Was there a theme for Black History?
2:49 – Charity: There was. Up and down the country, people were looking for different Black-owned restaurants, clothing brands. They were also asking questions like, when did Black History Month start? Which is obviously every February. When was it created? Which was 1926. Specifically for people in Chicago, they were also looking for Black history events and movies, really trying to get out there and embrace more of the culture.
3:15 – Mason: I like that you brought up Chicago. For Illinois, though, was there anything that was trending the highest for our state?
3:22 – Charity: Yeah, people were searching in Illinois specifically for Black History songs, so really trying to get the groove in for Black History Month.
3:29 – Mason: Was there anything that happened in February that you liked as a trend?
3:33 – Charity: Well, interestingly enough, I don’t know about you, but I always struggled to get really good sleep. This past month, we saw a surge in interest in sleep maxing, which hit an all-time high. Now, sleep maxing is Gen Z’s term for maximizing sleep. People were also searching for white noise volume. They were also looking for blue light as a top trending search. I know when I struggle to sleep, I love using my Google Assistant to play some background music to help me wind down right before bed.
4:01 – Mason: See, I just let Netflix go. That’s all I do. I just put five movies on. I put Friends on if I can find it or Seinfeld. I don’t even watch these shows.
4:14 – Charity: But it’s a good one to get ready for bed.
4:16 – Mason: Yeah. I’m trying to think. I love food. Was there any food that was trending for February?
4:21 – Charity: Absolutely. It was Valentine’s Day this past month. People were asking for different Valentine’s Day food and drinks. One of the key things that we saw is Valentine’s Day drinks were trending, particularly. Some of the top trending drinks were Shirley Temple, Espresso Martini, even a Strawberry Margarita. For people who were in the Midwest, in particular, we saw people searching for Valentine’s Day purses, taco purses, birthday cake, all sorts.
4:50 – Mason: What did you do for Valentine’s? Because all I did was the next day, I went to the store and got candy. That’s how I celebrate.
4:56 – Charity: I’m a Valentine’s girl, so I spent a lot of time decorating stuff with my girlfriends and drinking these Valentine’s Day drinks as well.
5:05 – Mason: Well, Charity, thanks for joining me, and I really appreciate you being here. For all those listening, where can they look up all these February trends?
5:12 – Charity: If you go on google.com, you can actually see for yourself what’s trending right now across the United States as well as around the world. It’s free, and it’s super easy to use and gives you a pulse of what’s happening all around the world.
5:26 – Announcer: This has been the Mason Vera Paine Show. Thanks for listening.
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