The internet is a giant magnifying glass for collective curiosity. Every viral moment, off-the-cuff comment, or celebrity meltdown sends us scurrying to Google faster than your two-year-old nephew-in-law with a new word they shouldn’t repeat. Case in point: Tyson Fury’s recent public announcement that he’s quitting boxing (again).
In his dramatic video announcement that went viral, Fury announced that he’s retiring, then dropped the line, “Dick Turpin wears a mask.” And, ‘jus’ like that!’ the 18th-century highwayman suddenly found himself trending at the start of 2025.
And what did people around the globe do? They turned to Google, of course, asking, “Who the heck is Dick Turpin?” or perhaps, “Did Dick Turpin wear a mask?” (He didn’t.)
This quirky moment perfectly exemplifies how viral moments and cultural touchstones shape search behaviour. But this isn’t just about trivia or fleeting trends — there are some serious implications here for marketers, small businesses, and, frankly, anyone else looking to ride the wave of public curiosity.
Tyson Fury and the Dick Turpin Surge
On Monday, Fury dropped his retirement announcement after his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk. It was already destined for headline news, but his comment about Dick Turpin added a sprinkle of WTF to the mix. While many people in the UK might be familiar with the term “even/at least Dick Turpin wore a mask,” many more are not.
Searches for “Dick Turpin” spiked almost immediately. According to Google Trends, interest in one 18th-century highwayman surged by 1000% over the following few hours.
People not only wanted to know who he was but also started digging into related topics, including “Noel Fielding,” who starred as Turpin in Apple TVs’ brilliantly funny series, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. (Ironically, the second series of the show seems to have been axed within the last 24 hours!)
This isn’t just a random case of internet curiosity — it’s a textbook example of how one viral moment can pull an obscure figure out of the history books and plop them right into the digital spotlight.
Fury’s Dick Turpin moment is, of course, just one example of how a pop culture moment caused a sudden search surge. There’ve been many others… like, oh I dunno, how about Will Smith’s Oscars “incident” when he slapped Christ Rock? The world had questions. In this case, hits for “alopecia” skyrocketed. Will Smith’s blunder led to a huge, spontaneous awareness campaign for alopecia, a medical condition that many people knew little about.
The Role of Social Listening (And How It’s Your Secret Weapon)
So, how do you stay ahead of the curve when the internet has the attention span of a gnat? Enter social listening — a fancy term (that some of you have no doubt have heard many times) for paying attention to what people are saying online. Basically, eavesdropping on a digital party. But in a totally legal, non-creepy way, of course.
What is social listening?
Social listening is the practice of monitoring chatter across social media platforms, forums, and search trends to understand what your audience is talking about in real-time. For marketers, it’s a goldmine of insight into customer interests, pain points, and opportunities to join the conversation
Why is it important?
It’s quite simple, if you’re not paying attention, you risk missing out. Social listening means you can:
- Spot Trends Early: If you’d been monitoring conversations during Fury’s retirement announcement, you could’ve whipped up a blog post about Dick Turpin before your competitors even knew what was happening.
- Join the Conversation: Whether it’s a viral meme or a hot topic, joining the discussion can be a great way to boost your brand’s visibility. That said, let’s be real — nobody needs to have an opinion on everything. It’s perfectly fine to shrug and say, “I don’t know” (honestly, it’s even refreshing to see!). But if the conversation directly relates to your business or expertise, then it’s a no-brainer. Jump in and make your voice heard, just make sure you’re adding value and not just noise.
- Understand Your Audience: Social listening isn’t just about trends spotting trends, it’s about understanding what makes your audience tick. And when you know what they care about, you can create content that resonates.
Use tools like Google Trends and Hootsuite Insights to track trends and keywords. They’ll help you stay ahead of the game without spending hours manually scrolling Twitter (or whatever Musk is calling it these days).
Ride the Trend Wave
The Tyson Fury-Dick Turpin saga may be a quirky example, but it carries some serious lessons for marketers and SEOs:
- Be Quick: The internet moves fast. When a relevant trend pops up, you need to act immediately. Unlike evergreen content, content tied to current events has a super short shelf life, so speed is your best friend.
- Be Relevant: Don’t jump on a trend just for the sake of it. Make sure it aligns with your brand and adds value to the conversation. Nobody wants to see a plumbing company tweeting about Barbie (though I’d love to see someone pull it off successfully!).
- Be Creative: Trends are a chance to flex your creative muscles. Can you tie a historical figure like Dick Turpin to your niche? In the case of The George pub in Tunbridge Wells, I wrote an article about Dick Turpin, highlighting some of Britain’s most infamous haunts for highwaymen and rogues, and ‘jus’ like that’ it earned a Google featured snippet.
Love It or Hate It, Trends Matter
Viral moments like Tyson Fury’s retirement or Barbenheimer aren’t just entertainment — they’re opportunities. They tell us what the world is curious about, and as marketers, it’s our job to meet that curiosity with smart, engaging content that raises awareness for our clients.
So, the next time a celebrity says something weird or a movie takes over the internet, don’t just watch from the sidelines. Dive into Google Trends, fire up your social listening tools, and create something that adds value to the conversation. Who knows? Maybe you’ll make an obscure reference that brings someone back into the spotlight.
Which reminds me… Tommy Cooper wore a fez often said ‘jus like that’, and honestly, that’s how fast a trend can take off. Question is — are you ready to catch it?