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Extremely Popular Things Limited To A Single Country

Video Games Are Dumb

Video Games Are Dumb

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,033
Milwaukee, WI
Hello Era,

I'm not sure how to phrase this but one of the most fascinating phenomenons has to be local/national favorites that never transcend beyond borders, yet remain relevant, admired, and celebrated in a single country. For example, the Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip. Unlike The Arcade Fire, Rush, or Alanis Morissette, this group maintained a constant omnipresent popularity in Canada...and only Canada. Heck, I never heard of them until the lead singer died a couple years ago and Justin Trudeau devoted an entire speech about his passing. Here's their most popular song.



So what say you, Era? What are the most popular movies, games, books, food dishes, fashion accessories that are limited to a single country? And why is it that some staggeringly popular things never make the leap to universal appreciation?
 
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Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,717
United States
This really interests me and hope to hear some interesting replies.

I am always rather surprised, and upset, when I hear about how the peanut butter & jelly sandwich is simply not at the level of popularity in the rest of the world as it is in the United States. I don't mean to say they aren't eaten anywhere else in the world but for all of America's cultural exports and globalization I can't believe the PB&J is not a more universal experience. The ubiquity of the PB&J, compared to its relative rarity elsewhere, will always make me sad for folks who do not enjoy one on the regular.
 
Prophet Five

Prophet Five

Pundeath Knight
Member
Nov 11, 2017
7,693
The Great Dark Beyond
I know some people will claim otherwise but really Kylie Minogue I think falls into this category. I love me some Kylie but the US sure doesn't. She's got pockets of fans but her base is definitely Australia.
 
nsilvias

nsilvias

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,062
spam in hawaii even tho its a state

for foods only popular in the us id say sloppy joes and even thats not really popular here
 
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
Australian Rules Football

It's actually a really cool game. I never understand why rugby seems to be more popular.
 
Deception

Deception

Member
Nov 15, 2017
8,481
Finale Fireworker said:
This really interests me and hope to hear some interesting replies.

I am always rather surprised, and upset, when I hear about how the peanut butter & jelly sandwich is simply not at the level of popularity in the rest of the world as it is in the United States. I don't mean to say they aren't eaten anywhere else in the world but for all of America's cultural exports and globalization I can't believe the PB&J is not a more universal experience. The ubiquity of the PB&J, compared to its relative rarity elsewhere, will always make me sad for folks who do not enjoy one on the regular.
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PB&J is one the GOAT sandwich experiences so this saddens me if true.

nsilvias said:
spam in hawaii even tho its a state
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Spam is also extremely popular in Japan.
 
Doomguy Fieri

Doomguy Fieri

Member
Nov 3, 2017
5,297
Finale Fireworker said:
This really interests me and hope to hear some interesting replies.

I am always rather surprised, and upset, when I hear about how the peanut butter & jelly sandwich is simply not at the level of popularity in the rest of the world as it is in the United States. I don't mean to say they aren't eaten anywhere else in the world but for all of America's cultural exports and globalization I can't believe the PB&J is not a more universal experience. The ubiquity of the PB&J, compared to its relative rarity elsewhere, will always make me sad for folks who do not enjoy one on the regular.
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What I came to post. PB&J is a lunchtime staple for me and my family. I've probably eaten thousands from the time I was a kid, and now my kid eats a couple every week. As I understand, peanut butter goes beyond uncommon in most places. It's considered kind of gross! I eat it with a spoon!
 
Sabretooth

Sabretooth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,098
India
Edit: I get it, I get it, you guys have paneer in Indian restaurants abroad. Now stop flooding my alerts!

I think it's actually rarer to find something that's internationally popular.

I mean, if you look at India, almost everything popular here is something foreigners would never have heard of, be it movies, food, fashion, books... I wouldn't even know where to begin.

In terms of what might interest you guys, maybe paneer is a good start.

640px-Panir_Paneer_Indian_cheese_fresh.jpg


It's a kind of cheese that's frequently used a substitute to meat by the very large vegetarian population we have. If there is a meat dish that exists, you can safely assume someone's sold a paneer version of it: paneer pizzas, paneer burgers, paneer curries, paneer sandwiches, on and on.
 
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WeAreStarStuff

WeAreStarStuff

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,227
Washington DC
I'm an American so here are a couple of my ignorant takes from some of my recent travel experiences:

Portugal: Fado
Scotland: Haggis
Peru: guinea pig and alpaca as food
Italy (particularly Sicily): cafe correcto
Spain: beer/wine during breakfast
 
OP
OP
Video Games Are Dumb

Video Games Are Dumb

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,033
Milwaukee, WI
Sabretooth said:
I think it's actually rarer to find something that's internationally popular.

I mean, if you look at India, almost everything popular here is something foreigners would never have heard of
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True, true. Westerns can be pretty narrow in their interests BUT there are other counties in the are like Napal. Bhutan, and Bangladesh that share media and food. Paneer is pretty fucking great tho.
 
Secret Squirrel

Secret Squirrel

Member
Jul 19, 2018
1,203
Milo Rambaldi said:
I know some people will claim otherwise but really Kylie Minogue I think falls into this category. I love me some Kylie but the US sure doesn't. She's got pockets of fans but her base is definitely Australia.
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She definitely did ok here.

'To date, Minogue has sold more than 80 million records worldwide. She has sold over 10.1 million singles in the United Kingdom alone, making her the 12th best-selling singles artist and the 3rd best-selling female artist in UK history. She has 10 Australian and 7 UK number-ones'
 
RossC

RossC

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,550
Plain-Can.jpg


Scotland's one of the only countries in the world where Coke isn't the best selling soft drink.
 
Serule

Serule

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,766
Sabretooth said:
I think it's actually rarer to find something that's internationally popular.

I mean, if you look at India, almost everything popular here is something foreigners would never have heard of, be it movies, food, fashion, books... I wouldn't even know where to begin.

In terms of what might interest you guys, maybe paneer is a good start.
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Paneer is not well known in the US, but it's also not super obscure either; any Indian restaurant will have it, and I can go to my local grocery store and get a saag paneer frozen dinner.
 

Deffers

Banned
Mar 4, 2018
2,402
Finland likes salmiakki. You aren't gonna find that shit elsewhere.

I've been on a one-man crusade to bring Frescolita to widespread distribution in the United States from Venezuela. It's not going well but you're gonna suck on a can of sodium benzoate and fucking thank me for it after someday.
 

Deleted member 48813

Banned
Oct 20, 2018
1,281
Brazil
Finale Fireworker said:
This really interests me and hope to hear some interesting replies.

I am always rather surprised, and upset, when I hear about how the peanut butter & jelly sandwich is simply not at the level of popularity in the rest of the world as it is in the United States. I don't mean to say they aren't eaten anywhere else in the world but for all of America's cultural exports and globalization I can't believe the PB&J is not a more universal experience. The ubiquity of the PB&J, compared to its relative rarity elsewhere, will always make me sad for folks who do not enjoy one on the regular.
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It's funny to me because as a non-american, I grew up seeing PB&J's all the time in american movies/shows, and yet I never actually tried one =P

@ Thread:

Brigadeiros and all other kinds of "party" sweets we have here in Brazil. I can't imagine a birthday party without these, they're almost as important as the cake itself!

iStock-981057966-724x450.jpg
 
TheBiInBilingual

TheBiInBilingual

THE STORE ENSURED ME THERE WOULDN'T BE FILM
Member
Feb 22, 2018
2,816
Most Dutch foods: 'aight I'm about to end all of those careers."

Hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles you put on bread), Stroopwafels (syrup cookies), Frikandel (mashed meat stick) Kroket (different kind of meat sticks), Roze koeken (sweet pink cakes)
 
IggyChooChoo

IggyChooChoo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,230
Finale Fireworker said:
This really interests me and hope to hear some interesting replies.

I am always rather surprised, and upset, when I hear about how the peanut butter & jelly sandwich is simply not at the level of popularity in the rest of the world as it is in the United States. I don't mean to say they aren't eaten anywhere else in the world but for all of America's cultural exports and globalization I can't believe the PB&J is not a more universal experience. The ubiquity of the PB&J, compared to its relative rarity elsewhere, will always make me sad for folks who do not enjoy one on the regular.
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I've noticed that peanut butter and root beer are beloved American institutions that a lot of the rest of the world often finds off-putting. Also baked beans can upset foreigners because the idea of adding sugar to beans is often considered repulsive.
 
hyouko

hyouko

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,259
Guido Krijt said:
Most Dutch foods: 'aight I'm about to end all of those careers."

Hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles you put on bread), Stroopwafels (syrup cookies), Frikandel (mashed meat stick) Kroket (different kind of meat sticks), Roze koeken (sweet pink cakes)
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Stroopwafels are modestly popular in the US, actually (people here love to stick them over a warm drink to heat them up). Though I don't know if the version we get is any good.
 
Kurita

Kurita

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,820
La France
Most local artists/filmmakers/writers/what have you don't go big internationally. Unless we're talking Hollywood/huge English-speaking music artists etc.
 
Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,717
United States
IggyChooChoo said:
I've noticed that peanut butter and root beer are beloved American institutions that a lot of the rest of the world often finds off-putting. Also baked beans can often upset foreigners because the idea of adding sugar to beans is often considered repulsive.
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I tend to think of root beer as something that's widely available but not widely beloved. It's like an old timey flavor that's stuck around since the era of soda jerks and drug store fountains but isn't something that everybody drinks.

Although I'm shocked to hear at the global repulsion of baked beans. I grew up around Boston so it's part of my identity. Baked bean preparation is a varied art in and of itself. Feeling very attacked rn.
 
TheBiInBilingual

TheBiInBilingual

THE STORE ENSURED ME THERE WOULDN'T BE FILM
Member
Feb 22, 2018
2,816
Slipknot666 said:
USA-School shootings
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insert -Marge simpson 'it's true but he shouldn't say it' GIF

hyouko said:
Stroopwafels are modestly popular in the US, actually (people here love to stick them over a warm drink to heat them up). Though I don't know if the version we get is any good.
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Ah, never knew that! Although I have worked at the airport for a while and US Tourists LOVED to bring them home with them. So fun to see.
 
Secret Squirrel

Secret Squirrel

Member
Jul 19, 2018
1,203
Finale Fireworker said:
I tend to think of root beer as something that's widely available but not widely beloved. It's like an old timey flavor that's stuck around since the era of soda jerks and drug store fountains but isn't something that everybody drinks.

Although I'm shocked to hear at the global repulsion of baked beans. I grew up around Boston so it's part of my identity. Baked bean preparation is a varied art in and of itself. Feeling very attacked rn.
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Baked beans are ridiculously popular in the UK. Personally I fucking hate them haha
 
Cerulean_skylark

Cerulean_skylark

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account.
Banned
Oct 31, 2017
6,408


Tim Horton's Coffee. Even though the quality sucks now thanks to it's american owners. it's a Canadian Icon. a sign of comfort on a long trip through unknown towns. It is as ubiquitous as our flag
 
apocat

apocat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,097
Must is ubiquitous in Sweden during christmas and easter, but pretty much nonexistent in the rest of the world. It outsells Coca Cola during those holidays, and tastes pretty nice.

c7bad02d-7a64-4b74-86jjx6.jpeg


Wikipedia Julmust
 
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Trice

Trice

Banned
Nov 3, 2018
2,653
Croatia
This shit is breakfast king for kids in our country, a lot of adults consume it as well, despite it still being marketed as for kids. I eat it every morning, haven't stopped since I quit sucking on my moms titties.

0895f364fd81af0b69046c5430e24a67-product_view-312723b40d9f9426445562ad749c10ea.png

Coolinarika_%C4%8Cokolino.jpg


It looks like diarrhea but trust me it's sooo good.
 
Jogi

Jogi

Prophet of Regret
Member
Jul 4, 2018
5,484
Extremely popular might be pushing it, but in the US: cheerleading and gun shows.
 
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