The High Five: Courtside seats for Comey
Cavs vs. Warriors. Cookies vs. oranges. And Madrid vs. manspreaders. Here’s a look at some of the top trending searches from the week of June 2.
Nothin’ but net
… on Google this week, as people search for details about the NBA Finals. This year marks a third consecutive matchup between the Cavaliers and the Warriors—a first for any two teams in the NBA. Searchers wanted to know who won games 2 and 3, as well as what channel and time the next game was on. Though the Warriors have won every game in the series so far, LeBron James has consistently been at the top of the search pack this week, followed alternately by Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. Finally, if you need a little Basketball 101, you’re not alone: Searchers also asked, “How many games to win the NBA finals?” Four out of seven—and Game 4 tips off tonight.
Comey Day
The Warriors may be up 3-0, but when it came to must-see TV they had some competition from an unexpected corner this week. Former FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday about the investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election, and people were dialed-in. During his testimony, search interest in “Comey live” spiked 200 percent higher than “NBA finals live” at any other point this month in the U.S. Many wanted to know why Comey was fired, as well as “Who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee?” and “Who is questioning Comey right now?” While Comey was answering questions under oath, others were keeping an eye on the President’s reaction, asking “Is Trump live tweeting now?” But the top question about Comey yesterday wasn’t political. It was “How tall is James Comey?” Answer: Taller than Steph Curry, as tall as LeBron James.
An a-peeling parody
“Orange is the New Black” debuts its fifth season today, but this week was all about Piper Snackman. Inspired by the Netflix series, Sesame Street released a creative skit to teach kids about the benefits of healthy eating. In addition to Piper, “Orange is the New Snack” features adorable muppet versions of Red, Morello and the rest of the OITNB crew—including, inevitably, “Googley eyes.” Most searchers were simply looking for the video to watch the parody (with variations on “Sesame Street is the new snack” and “Sesame Street does Orange is the New Black”), but Sesame Street should be hopeful that some folks took the message to heart. Search interest in “orange snacks” spiked more than 900 percent this week.
Stop the spread
This week, Madrid became the most recent city to take a stand on “manspreading” on public transportation. The city’s transit agency will be posting signs on all their buses to remind passengers that taking up more than one seat via their posture is considered bad public transportation behavior. In the U.S., where the NYC subway has had similar signs for three years, people turned to Google to ask “Why is manspreading an issue?” and “is manspreading sexist?” as well as as how to fight it (apart from better signage, we assume). They also wondered, “What do you call manspreading in Spanish?” The answer, as far as we can tell: “el manspreading.” You know what they say—body language is universal.
Thank you for being a friend
People turned to to social media to celebrate their BFFs yesterday for National Best Friends Day. Many searchers were looking for memes and GIFs to share, while more sentimental types searched for “happy national best friend day quotes.” Skeptical about made-up holidays? Consider that other national days people were searching for this week include “VCR Day,” “Attitude Day” and “Chocolate Ice Cream Day.” Whatever you celebrated this week, search has your back—that’s what friends are for.
