Uprising, Sakurai developing Uprising, the revelation about her Japanese fanbase, the leak, and the statue have all given Palutena popularity boosts of varying amounts, getting her to the point she's at now.
By comparison, Bandana Dee has basically undergone the Impa Effect, and a lesser version of it, since he's only ever brought up in any significant way on this forum, whereas you'll see token Impa mentions elsewhere by people not named Diddy Kong.
I don't think they're comparable in any way, unless you want to count both of them using a disjointed weapon.