Our friends here at Casino.org asked 5,000 people to try and distinguish between famous landmarks and their replicas in Las Vegas. Emphasis on “try.”
A stunning number of people apparently can’t tell our Las Vegas homages (like the Statue of Liberty at New York-New York or Trevi fountain at Caesars Palace) from the real thing.
Example: A whopping 95.5% of those surveyed thought the Vegas replica of the Statue of Liberty was the real thing. If “Yikes!” leaps to mind, you’re not alone. Let’s delve face-first into the WTF, shan’t we?
To set the stage, Casino.org asked 5,000 Americans to identify real monuments and their Vegas replicas using photos. Participants were asked about the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Erawan Shrine, Sphynx of Giza, St. Mark Campanile, Trevi Fountain, Statue of David, Venice Grand Canal and Arc de Triomphe.
The only one we didn’t recognize immediately is the Erawan shrine, mostly because that’s not how it’s referred to. The Eraway shrine is the Brahma shrine at Caesars Palace. It’s near Hell’s Kitchen. We are not making this up.
So, while it’s hard to say how scientific this survey is (it’s unclear what photos were used and photo selection could definitely skew the results, see details here), but it’s a fun look into the heads of random people who may need to travel more.
The results!
Survey participants had widely varying levels of success, depending upon the replica in question.
As stated earlier, nearly 96% of respondents said the Vegas replica of the Statue of Liberty was the real thing. Which seems wild, unless you recall the U.S. Postal Service was similarly confused.
In 2010, a Statue of Liberty Forever stamp was issued using not the real Statue of Liberty, but a close-up of the statue in Las Vegas. The mistake was caught three billion stamps later and the sculptor of the Las Vegas replica got $3.5 million for the gaffe.
If you’re bored, here are all the architectural inspirations for New York-New York.
Here are all the survey results in one handy infographic.
A list highlighting what people got right would be fun, but a list of what people got wrong is funnier, so we’re going with that.
Statue of Liberty, 96% got it wrong, mistaking the replica for the real thing; Arc de Triomphe, 93% wrong; Trevi Fountain, 64% wrong; St. Mark Campanile Bell Tower, 58% wrong; Erawan Shrine, 57% wrong; Eiffel Tower, 54% wrong; Giza Sphynx, 45% wrong; David Statue, 17% wrong; Venice Grand Canal, 11% wrong; and Empire State Building, 6% wrong.
That’s a lot of Americans “fooled” by our fake landmarks!
Actually, it’s a testament to the designers, artists and builders who created this impressive array of eye candy on the Las Vegas Strip.
All of these landmarks have aged pretty well. Among the sites in the survey, nothing stands out as being particularly cheesy or outdated. They’re timeless, just like the originals.
Las Vegas architecture has taken hits over the years for being garish and tacky and incongruous.
But these landmarks are also part of what makes Las Vegas so awesome. It’s the high-speed collision of styles and cultures and inspirations that keeps people from around the world wide-eyed when they visit, even if they come from a place that has its own famous landmarks.
Our landmarks don’t just rival the originals, they are arguably more impressive because there are so many all in one place. They’re also more accessible and useful than their counterparts.
The actual Venice smells to high heaven. The Eiffel Tower is surrounded by French people.
You can’t touch the real David statue’s toe for good luck!
Oh, look, it’s a “Seinfeld” reference from 1994!
We’re just trying to help you find the David statue at Caesars Palace by enlarging the sign nearby. Please grow up. pic.twitter.com/v9xtFqF9HE
— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) June 25, 2024
This was a fun survey, and because our blog is on Casino.org, we plan to take credit for the idea at the next staff meeting. Kidding. One of our favorite things about Casino.org is they don’t have staff meetings.
Casino.org also kept track of which states did the best and worst at distinguishing real landmarks from their Las Vegas copies. Nevada wasn’t among the top five states or the bottom, interestingly.
New Jersey had the smartest cookies with a 62.5% accuracy rate. Wyoming had the fewest right answers, with a wobbly 30% accuracy rate. Again, not super scientific, so don’t feel bad, Wyoming. It’s not like anyone can find your state on a map, anyway. All due respect. They call your geyser “Old Faithful.” Invest in a new one, already. That’s what we’d do in Las Vegas.
If we had to pick a favorite Las Vegas landmark, we’d go with the Eiffel Tower. Because Spearmint Rhino wasn’t included in the survey. Do you know this blog at all?
