Rule 34 of the internet states that there’s porn for basically everything you can imagine. Rule 35, in turn, should state that any spike in news coverage around a specific subject will spur a proportional surge in Pornhub searches for said subject.
We saw this theory play out with Harambe, and it’s repeating itself with the recent trend of creepy clowns around the U.S. and the U.K. that started in August. In fact, Pornhub reports that it’s experienced a 213 percent increase in clown searches since Sept. 15.
In the last 30 days, as real-life vigilantes—ranging from a costumed Batman in the U.K. to redneck ninjas and a rapper in Chicago—increasingly push back against the clowns, Pornhub notes there have been over 100,000 clown-related searches on the popular porn site. Here are a few other takeaways it noted on its blog:
The most popular search is “clown porn,” followed by “clown girl” and “clown gangbang.” The effect of media coverage can be seen with terms like “crazy clown,” “scary clown,” and “killer clown,” moving above longer-term fetish favorites like “midget clown,” “birthday clown,” “clown feet,” and let’s not forget—“clown fart”.
Our statisticians also report that proportionately, women are 33% more likely to search for clown porn than men.
The recent surge can also be contributed to the anticipation for Halloween, the Suicide Squad character Harley Quinn, and the internet’s strange fascination with Juggalettes.
Chart via Pornhub