Hulk Hogan

The more I think about it, the more it almost has to be Obama and I don't think it's even close.

Any sports figure is going to run into the problem that in some portion of the world, nobody cares about that sport. For example, I would bet that less than 10% of Americans would recognize Messi, but he might be the most well-known athlete since soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Remember also that women care about sports WAY less than men in general.

Same sort of thing for the arts. There are just too many places where people don't care about American TV/movies, and too many people who don't care about TV/movies at all or are too poor to watch them.

Other politicians like the Queen are just not close to Obama. Again, I would bet less than 30% of Americans could identify her, but I bet 90% of Europeans could identify Obama. What percentage of Chinese people do you think could identify the Queen? How about Chinese people identifying Obama?

The only person who might come close is George W. Bush, but I think that recentness + young people swing it to Obama. There's really not any large area of the world where Obama wouldn't be recognized.

hate to say it but its easily this joker and its actually not close at all (well maybe Micheal jackson)

The Queen is 'The Queen' and head of state of 16 nations and another 38 nations have her as a figurehead in some capacity by being part of the commonwealth of nations. In 2005 that covered 2.1 billion people.

The arguments you couldnt pick her out of a lineup of old ladies then saying Obama which some have posted is ridiculously flawed. As already pointed out a lot of the worlds population look at a picture of the queen when they want to buy something and Obama isnt so recognisable that the average non-western (and a lot of western) people are a lock to recognise him in a line up of average middle aged black guys.

You wouldn't find a ton of people who know who Obama is in Antarctica. Maybe a few thousand people at most.

Bush.

then you're opinion isn't worth much.

I bet at least 97% of the people in Antarctica know who obama is. They're all educated and not completely cut off from the rest of the world.

Have you guys suggesting sportstars forgotten that half the population is female?

You're right, it's probably Mia hamm

Tom Cruise is the most famous actor in the world.

She has a sandwich named after her, which increases the likelihood even more, imo.

Assuming ignorance is a two way street is going to be a bad idea.

But whatever, on that list the second country is India who had The Queen as their Queen until 1950 and she is still a well recognised figure in that country as they are still part of the commonwealth.

This is way off. 2.1 billion people represents ~30% of the global population. She is a mere figurehead, she's not the ruling authority in most of the countries you're referencing. And because she's a figurehead, she is not actually reported on or publicized in a meaningful way outside of pomp. Basically no one gives a **** about "The Queen" outside of that 2.1 billion, and even within the population she is a figurehead over, she is not all that important, sorry!

I think people are afraid of ameri-tarding up the thread by saying Obama. But JaketheSnake is right.

Basically - POTUS is *always* the most photographed, publicized, reported on person in the world all the time. You want to know why? Because the most powerful person on the planet is always heavily scrutinized and reported on.

The fact Obama is black, and POTUS during the age of the Internet, only cements his status as most recognized person in the world. He may in fact be the most famous person in the world's history.

You make a valid point, but messi is more popular with the younger generation who are getting into soccer.( Which is huge in Asia)

Obama is definitely more popular than Bush.

I think the women/sports thing might be valid which is why I included Ronaldo and why Beckham is a contender since they are both considered very good looking dudes. This gives women another reason to know them other than athletic feats.

Obama: Famous for 3.5 years.
Elizabeth: Famous for life.

It isn't that he isn't notable. It's that everyone who would know him would also know the Pope and the Queen. The edge is in people who know only one or two of the three, and among those people Obama loses.

It's preposterous to think that the number of people who know Obama but not the Queen of England is greater than the number of people who know the Queen of England but not Obama.

Jesus

this entire thread is like the IQ test of a generation ago, the questions and related answers base the intellect on local trivia.

Yeah, just because Americans are morans who can't name other world leaders, doesn't mean 90% of Chinese and Indian people can't name him. Obama in a walk imo

He has been very famous for 3 years. The Queen has been very famous for 60.

For the record I think it is obviously one of those two or Dubya. Lol at people naming Messi who isnt particularly famous in a bunch of European countries or Taylor Swift who is virtually anonymous outside of the American border.

talked about this a long time ago...consensus was michael jackson

He dead. Pick another.

I think the duration argument (3 vs. 60) is a bit silly when taking into account Internet distribution and 24/7 news coverage across a zillion global outlets.

I would wager that Obama's image in video,print,online/any medium has been replicated and distributed far more times than the Queens over the past 60 years.

Geezus Obama internet memes alone probably eclipse the totality of the Queens image distribution over the past 60 years.

Oh, you ninja edited. Im aware she is just a figurehead of most of those nations, hence me saying that. But the fact remains that "pomp" is ridiculously covered. When she visits a country that country knows and she has been visiting countries as Queen and head of state for nearly as long as the average lifespan of a person.

Obama's popularity and recognisability is huge but it is intensely concentrated. And again this isnt a name recognition game but a face recognition game and The Queen has been putting about that face for a lot longer.