urm… sorry to pop some bubbles, but from what I can see, Tupac is virtually unheard of here in Singapore (I’ll not speak for the rest of SEAsia) whereas Elvis lives on in the song-stylings of many an aging taxi-uncle.
Spider-man is endlessly pirated here on cheap t-shirts (and licensed dealies too). I’m drinking a Coke as I type. The nearest foodstuffs are all local, I have to walk a good half hour or more to find a McDonalds, a (failing) KFC, Burger King, Edo Sushi, etc. There’s no Subway, Pizza hut or whatnot for quite a distance. What’s more, despite having outlets, the American chains don’t have much hold in this part of town, it’s the local hawker centres that are more popular (not an opinion, a fact). That said, all the American chains I named are present here in S’pore, so the OPs query is confirmed, the influence exists.
Michael Jordan? Who? (I know who he is, but he’s not as influential as some might think) Basketball… meh. Try Badminton, try Thai kick-volleyball (I can’t recall the name, but it involves similar themes to Volleyball, except you can’t touch the ball with you head or hands). Soccer, yes. Cricket, yes. Baseball, no. Basketball… rare, but the courts are there just in case.
Boybands, teen-pop sensations[sup]tm[/sup] and American teevee have more influence (although HK and Taiwanese celebs are more popular overall).
Now one that you’ve all forgotten. Potatoes and Tobacco. Yup, that’s been global for more than a coupla centuries, and they come from America…
And Nendil the Smurfs are European, Peyo, the guy who literally dreamt them up, was from… Belgium (?). I know the comics originally came out in French. The cartoon… I couldn’t say for certain (and I’m not digging for a cite right this nowsome).
-Los Geneos.