That's Mario, but who's the other guy?

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Image from the joystiq story

It's Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper! Americans aren't the only ones stunningly ignorant of politics:
Mario is more recognizable to Canadian citizens than their own prime minister, according to a Harris/Decima survey.

As reported by Joystiq, researchers found that more Canadians could identify a picture of Nintendo’s famed plumber than they could of PM Stephen Harper, who has been on the job for nearly two years.

On the other hand, Nintendo commissioned the survey.

To be fair, I wouldn't have recognized Stephen Harper either. Until now, that is.

OK, looking at the report on the survey, the quote above isn't really accurate. Only in some areas of Canada was Mario more recognizable. Nationwide, they both have 70% name recognition:
Even in Calgary, which includes Harper's home riding of Calgary Southwest, Mario was more recognizable (47 per cent vs. 41 per cent). More women across Canada were also able to identify Mario than the country's top politician (66 per cent vs. 63 per cent) and nationwide, the animated plumber is just as well-known as the prime minister. Both were recognized by 70 per cent of respondents in five major centres when asked to identify photographs by name.
(emphasis added.)

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