Before “hawk tuah girl”: Who are some ordinary people who went crazily viral on the internet?

Known to the world as “hawk tuah girl”, a US woman has become an internet sensation after delivering a hilarious sex tip during a street interview. Speaking to the social-media influencers Tim and Dee TV, she was asked to name “one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time”. In a thick southern drawl, she responded: “Oh, you’ve got to give it that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang, you get me?”

To illustrate the meaning of the onomatopoeic term “hawk tuah”, the unnamed woman theatrically mimicked the action of collecting saliva and spitting it out, bringing her head backwards before jutting it forward towards the microphone. The viral phrase has spawned a flood of online memes, and has inspired remix tracks.

“Hawk tuah girl” is merely the latest in a long line of otherwise unknown individuals who have suddenly found themselves at the centre of internet users’ attention. We take a look at three other such examples:

“Crazy plane lady”

In summer 2023, real estate developer Tiffany Gomas went viral when she was filmed having a major meltdown on a flight that was about to depart Dallas, Texas, for Orlando, Florida. Footage of the incident, of which multiple versions were shared on social media, showed Gomas delivering an expletive-ridden tirade in which she announced to other passengers that she’d be getting off the plane because, according to her, a person on board wasn’t “real”.

“I’m telling you, I’m getting the fuck off, and there’s a reason why I’m getting the fuck off,” Gomas yelled, pointing towards the back of the aircraft. “Everyone can either believe it or they cannot believe it. I don’t give two fucks. But I’m telling you right now, that motherfucker, that motherfucker back there is not real.”

Gomas has since sought to make the most of her 15 minutes of fame, by attempting to become a right-wing influencer. In April, she took to the social-media platform X to post a photo of herself in a bikini bearing the logo of Ultra Right Beer. The brand styles itself as a “woke-free American” beverage. “Wonder how many people I’m gonna piss off with this post,” she wrote alongside the photo, which was widely viewed.

The world’s oldest doctor

Dr. Howard Tucker, a Cleveland man who has made the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest practising physician, went viral in 2022. Now 101, Tucker became an online phenomenon as the star of a TikTok account established by his grandson, Austin, together with pal Taylor Taglianetti.

Created to promote a film that the pair were making about Tucker, the account features a host of short videos in which Austin’s grandfather can be seen taking part in trending challenges. For example, he is seen struggling through a quiz that tests his ability to recognise 1990s pop songs. Other clips Tucker has starred in include “things I would never do”, and a footage of him shopping for a new iPhone. A number of the videos have attracted several million views.

In an interview with the media outlet Insider in November 2022, Tucker said: “I still have much to learn about TikTok but am in awe that people find what I say fascinating and amazed at the coverage my story has been receiving and the people coming up to me who say they’ve seen me on the internet.”

“Charlie bit my finger”

In the UK, one of the internet age’s great viral videos has now been amassing views for nearly two decades. In 2007, Howard Davies-Carr published a video of his two young sons on YouTube, as a way of sending a clip of the children to their godparents. In the video, baby Charlie can be seen repeatedly biting his brother Harry’s finger, leading the latter to exclaim: “Ouch! Charlie, that really hurt!”

In the video’s description on YouTube, Davies-Carr says: “Even had I thought of trying to get my boys to do this I probably couldn’t have. Neither were coerced into any of this and neither were hurt (for very long anyway). This was just one of those moments when I had the video camera out because the boys were being fun and they provided something really very funny.”

Over the 17 years since it was posted, the clip has racked up 886 million views. In 2021, the BBC reported that the video had sold as a non-fungible token for £500,000 (just over $632,000 at today’s exchange rate). “I can’t even remember doing it so making money off it, and having experiences off it, is really cool,” Charlie, now in his late teens, told the BBC. “We’ve been to America twice from it, I went round Sky’s studios, and we’ve met a lot of cool people. It’s just an extra part of our life that’s quite interesting.”