I was arguing with two friends about this.... They were convinced that Michael Jordan is the most recognized person (athlete) in the world. I argued that I think David Beckham is more popular around the world than Jordan is (even though he's not the best soccer player in the world). I wanted to know if anyone had any evidence that supports my claim? Or maybe I'm completely wrong?
Jordan by far.....honestly...when you go to a little village in tajikstan and see some kid with #23 of the bulls on their back then you know that beckham isnt' as popular.
Beckham by a country mile, the average person in the street might have heard of jordan but id be surprised if few could tell you more about him than what sport he plays, beckham has the fame of jordan times 10 and more importantly much more exposure simply because of the sport he plays. Plus there was a temple/monastery in china or japan or some place that erected a statue of beckham, probably the grandios version of the sun's "heal beckhams foot" campaign.
i think peter north is under-rated. every1 goes for mr popular RJ 9 3/4in dong, but they havent seen the skills of peter. haha. i actually saw a video on the internet once called peter north's greatest shots, lol it was disgusting.
It's gotta be Becks...... Basketball isn't nearly as popular as Footy on the world stage. Basketball is a minor sport (if that) in most countries outside of the US.
I read an article a while ago that said the 3 most recognized things in the world were........ 1. the McD's golden arches 2. the stop sign 3. Michael Jordan I don't have a source for this....just my 2 worthless cents
Definitely Becks now - maybe not in Jordan's heyday though!!! Jordan actually played on the Wizards last year though I'm not sure why . .. he hasn't been on top of the world for at least what 5 years or so
This same thing came up around WC '98 except it was Jordan vs. Ronaldo. Jordan by leaps, bounds, and several half-assed jumps. Just think, people may have no idea that he came out of retirement to play for Washington but the international press sure as hell noticed that Beckham took #23, the same as MJ. Yeah, his time is done but the marketing rolls on. Luckily for all the companies making bank on him, they had the most money player of basketball history. Ask any hoops fan who they'd want to take the last shot of a game, it's gotta be MJ. Speaking of "money" and "shot", what the hell did Mrs. North feed her baby boy? And what dietary supplements does he take to engender such prodigious, copious rope?
Definately Beckham most countries in the world have heard about Beckham. Countries such as China or Japan I dont think would recognize Jordan.
yea they don't follow basketball over there, ya know hence there were not NBA games played in japan at the beginning of the season this year and those communists don't even know what a basketball is...you ming anyone?
Its a tough call between Becks and Jordan but I think Jordan is the more well know of the two I remember quite a few polls that said Jordan was second only to Jesus Christ as the most reconized person in the World. Oh and for the person that said Jordan is an no-name in China and Japan you have no clue, Jordan is a God in Asia, early models of his shoes sell for more than a $1000 per pair and that is only because they are Jordans and that is just his shoes his jerseys and other Jordan brand stuff sell as much in asia if not more than they do in the USA. Jordan is the most well know sports personality in the World, Becks is closing in on that market but I would still go with Jordan right now. As for P. North and Ron Jermey I have to go with Ron since P. North was a gay for pay porn star before he started doing the ladies on film and now lies about it and says that it wasn't him. That is wrong on so many levels it makes my stomache turn. Oh and to the sensitive crowd or any gay people out there I am not saying that being gay is wrong thats your own choice and I am no position to judge other people, it's your life do with it as you wish. I am saying selling your self out like he does is wrong if he is gay he has no business doing straight porn flicks ad if he isn't gay then he had no business doing gay flicks even if it was "just for the payday" and then lying about it is even worse, that makes you a scum bag.
hmmm, i couldn't say for sure if p north was hetero or *#*#*#*#, but he is definitely metro. and, one more time, there is no way beckham compares to jordan in popularity/recognizability. jordan is the trailblazing messiah of Marketing. beckham is merely another world class athlete trying to walk that some path, like shaq before him, like ronaldo, like lebron. they'll never reach him because every sport only gets one first mega-superstar and that guy becomes the icon and nobody ever replaces him. just like babe ruth, wayne gretzky, pele. too bad those guys didn't try to sell shoes. EDIT: hmmm, *#*#*#*# got edited.
for the record, all the posts on this screenname from the past 2 weeks have been from my little brother. But he won't be posting anymore on this name. Anyway, It's really a tossup. While jordan might be more well known in alot of the bigger countries, I'm not sure if alot of the smaller countries would have heard of him. Then again they might not have heard of beckham either. It's really hard to tell.