And why?
Most culture of the United States of America—music, cinema, dance, architecture, literature, poetry, cuisine and the visual arts- most American genres of music,cinema,television etc are popular in many countries around the world.
I give country music as an example. Outside of some pockets of popularity in Australia and New Zealand, this music is not popular outside of North America. I do not really know why. Not that I am a fan of country music.
Please do not give us the uninformative answer of ‘because it is shite’. Baywatch was shite. But apparently the most popular TV show in history.
Peanut Butter. Americans are often surprised to lean that a good chunk of the world considers it borderline disgusting, even if they are OK with peanuts.
Spongy, white bleached pre-sliced sandwich type bread like Wonder Bread etc. Not big hit overseas.
While there’s a league in Europe, it’s really only of interest to a very small percentage of the population, and most of them are ex-pat Americans.
Sports really become quite culturally embedded, and seem not as prone as many other cultural practices to outside influence or challenges. Australians and Brits etc. who have no trouble watching American movies or eating American food will express horror at the idea of giving up soccer or rugby or Aussie rules for American football.
While they are still often considered predominantly American, both basketball and baseball have far more international penetration than American football.
Also, I don’t think that much of American culture is so popular outside North America. Cuisine? Apart from some fast food industry - not so much. Literature? Poetry? With all due respect, but marginal. Architecture? Sure, we all know about skyscrapers and Wright’s waterfall house, but again - apart from that - not so much.
Easier to answer is what is popular and why. And there we have Hollywood and music industry and their promotion factories. Oh, and fashion, but it’s kinda following music and television.
There’s sports - american football is not really played professionally outside of the US by non-American players. Baseball is not globally popular, but is played in Japan and latin America. I guess most countries have some version of the hitting a ball with a stick game for kids, but it is not as common to find it played professionally.
The American breakfast experience in a diner is not something I’ve seen replicated in Europe - where people sit at a bar and order food off a menu that consists solely of eggs plus something.
Also tipping culture seems to be writ particularly large in the US in a way that is not as popular anywhere else I have been. Tipping is expected in the UK in restaurants, but it is no way near as culturally-ingrained as in the US where everyone is aware of the 20% expectation.
Things like peanut butter (which I personally loathe, but I’m not representative) and country music are very popular here in Australia. The first is universal, and the second is huge in some sections of the population (truckers, of course, love it, but so do Aborigines). I think those things fall more in the category of “popular elsewhere, but not as insanely popular as in the US”.
I’ll be the last crotchety old bastard on Earth who starts at 15%. This 20% business just started a few years ago, and I didn’t notice a corresponding increase in anything except the food prices.
True story that somehow seems to fit this thread: friends of mine (Americans) were traveling around the world, and chanced to dine at a Pizza Hut in New Zealand.
Somehow they ended up chatting with a local couple, and the wife said “Don’t you think Pizza Hut is delicious? Do they have it in the United States?”
Moral of the story: many things in the modern world are so universal that we don’t even think about where they originated. But absent real information, we may very well assume that something popular in our home country originated there, even if it is an import.
I bet there are Americans who think that the karaoke or Hello Kitty crazes began on American soil.
There remain pockets of American media entertainment that don’t seem to have become known here in the UK. Comedy, in particular - sure, we’re exposed to a lot of American sitcom and cartoons, but performance comedy - not nearly so much.
I know peanut butter is sold in quantity here in NZ, but to me it’s just mouse bait. I don’t see many mentions of it in kid’s lunches either. Earlier this year the Human Rights Commission in Sydney banned peanut butter from the building because of the smell and the effect that may have on those allergic to peanuts. I’d say the whole peanut allergy thing may put folks off peanut butter as time goes on. (But the smell alone? Sounds bizarre to me.)
Yeah, I know maybe that shouldn’t qualify, on account of originating in Mexico - but I think it could be argued to have become a standalone American cultural object. I’m sure we have Mexican-style restaurants here in the UK. I’ve seen maybe one.