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To me, this sounds like a pretty strong overblowing of just how acquainted most people abroad are with the US and its cities. People don't generally know that much, don't need to know that much, and don't really care to know that much about another country even if it is the US of A. It's going to be mostly surface they get to, and on the surface, the White House and the like simply show up a lot more often when it comes to places that a person might be able to identify with a somewhat specific area/city. Throw in some LA beach vistas and the Hollywood sign, the Manhattan skyline, and the Statue of Liberty and you're not going to go very much further than that for the vast majority of people outside of the US. Maybe Hawaii in sort of an abstract when you go to East Asia.
lol
Anyway the UK govt commissioned a survey to determine how Big Ben stacked up against other landmarks as far as recognizability by respondents around the world.
Rank/ Attraction/ City/ Awarness by
Respondents
1 Eiffel Tower/ Paris/ 78.96% 2 Golden Gate Bridge/ San Francisco/74.47%
3 White House/ Washington DC/ 66.47%
4 Opera House/ Sydney/ 62.95%
5 Pyramids/ Cairo/ 61.46%
6 Statue of Liberty/ New York/ 54.23%
7 Edinburgh Castle/ Edinburgh/ 53.30%
8 Red Square/ Moscow/ 51.83%
9 Cristo Redentor/ Rio de Janeiro 50.59%
10 Big Ben/ London/ 46.08%
11 Colosseum/ Rome/ 44.49%
12 CN Tower/ Toronto/ 35.53%
13 Kremlin/ Moscow/ 35.02%
14 Hollywood/ Los Angeles/ 31.69%
Anyway the UK govt commissioned a survey to determine how Big Ben stacked up against other landmarks as far as recognizability by respondents around the world.
Rank/ Attraction/ City/ Awarness by
Respondents
1 Eiffel Tower/ Paris/ 78.96% 2 Golden Gate Bridge/ San Francisco/74.47%
3 White House/ Washington DC/ 66.47%
4 Opera House/ Sydney/ 62.95%
5 Pyramids/ Cairo/ 61.46%
6 Statue of Liberty/ New York/ 54.23%
7 Edinburgh Castle/ Edinburgh/ 53.30%
8 Red Square/ Moscow/ 51.83%
9 Cristo Redentor/ Rio de Janeiro 50.59%
10 Big Ben/ London/ 46.08%
11 Colosseum/ Rome/ 44.49%
12 CN Tower/ Toronto/ 35.53%
13 Kremlin/ Moscow/ 35.02%
14 Hollywood/ Los Angeles/ 31.69%
I feel like you all are not pleased that SF is so well known.
lol
Ah yea, throw in the Golden Gate Bridge, too, that's definitely up there, though not sure how far especially outside of white Anglophone countries.
Not really pleased or displeased. Just doesn't jive at all with any of my experiences, and my experience is that knowing that much about the US simply isn't that important to function for the vast majority of people abroad.
Anyway the UK govt commissioned a survey to determine how Big Ben stacked up against other landmarks as far as recognizability by respondents around the world.
Rank/ Attraction/ City/ Awarness by
Respondents
1 Eiffel Tower/ Paris/ 78.96% 2 Golden Gate Bridge/ San Francisco/74.47%
3 White House/ Washington DC/ 66.47%
4 Opera House/ Sydney/ 62.95%
5 Pyramids/ Cairo/ 61.46%
6 Statue of Liberty/ New York/ 54.23%
7 Edinburgh Castle/ Edinburgh/ 53.30%
8 Red Square/ Moscow/ 51.83%
9 Cristo Redentor/ Rio de Janeiro 50.59%
10 Big Ben/ London/ 46.08%
11 Colosseum/ Rome/ 44.49%
12 CN Tower/ Toronto/ 35.53%
13 Kremlin/ Moscow/ 35.02%
14 Hollywood/ Los Angeles/ 31.69%
Oh look, another survey of recognizable world landmarks that places the Golden Gate Bridge in the World's Top 10 along with the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids in Egypt. Sorry, no DC
Most Photographed Cities in the World
1. New York City
2. London 3. San Francisco
4. Paris
5. Los Angeles
6. Chicago
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Seattle
9. Rome
10. Amsterdam
To me, this sounds like a pretty strong overblowing of just how acquainted most people abroad are with the US and its cities. People don't generally know that much, don't need to know that much, and don't really care to know that much about another country even if it is the US of A. It's going to be mostly surface they get to, and on the surface, the White House and the like simply show up a lot more often when it comes to places that a person might be able to identify with a somewhat specific area/city. Throw in some LA beach vistas and the Hollywood sign, the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, the gambling in Las Vegas, and you're not going to go very much further than that for the vast majority of people outside of the US. Maybe Hawaii in sort of an abstract when you go to East Asia.
Agreed.
This kind of reminds me of Chris Rock's conversation with Kevin Hart where he says: "I'm famous. You're Black famous." Similarly, there's worldwide famous, nationally famous, and then DC/NYC/Chicago/Bay Area famous. A lot of posters don't seem capable of distinguishing among those three tiers. It's as if they think the world has a spotlight on their respective city at all times.
People from all over the world gush over San Francisco:
"The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to
preach about heaven while I'm here. "-Billy Graham
"You are fortunate to live here. If I were your
President, I would levy a tax on you for living in
San Francisco!"-Mikhail Gorbachev
"The ultimate [travel destination] for me would
be one perfect day in San Francisco. There's no
city like it anywhere. And, if I could be there with
the girl of my dreams, that would be the
ultimate!"-Larry King, talk show host
"I love this city. If I'm elected, I will move the
White House to San Francisco"-Robert Kennedy
“God took the beauty of the Bay of
Naples, the Valley of the Nile, the
Swiss Alps, the Hudson River Valley,
rolled them into one and made San
Francisco Bay.”-Fiorello La Guardia
"San Franciscans are very proud of their
city, and they should be. It’s the most
beautiful place in the world."-Robert Redford
"Your city is remarkable not only for its
beauty. It is also, of all the cities in the
United States, the one whose name, the
world over, conjures up the most visions
and more than any other city incites one
to dream." -Georges Pompidou
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