Hilarious: In Japan they celebrate Christmas at KFC

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: in Japan they celebrate Christmas at KFC.

Are you also a bit fed up with those Christmas dinners? Regardless of the strict measures and thus only three people visiting, it may be that you just don't feel like it at all. Too much fuss, for example. Spending hours in the kitchen, which you might not feel like at all. In fact, you'd rather just quickly grab something at a fast food place. Like KFC, for example. It may not be very Christmasy for us, but in Japan, that's the ultimate Christmas feeling.

Well, for some families, that is. And by some, I mean about 3.6 million Japanese who go to KFC during Christmas every year. Hoooly shit, that's a lot of people. But why specifically to KFC?

Brilliant marketing
The fact that a little chicken has become a Japanese tradition during Christmas is entirely thanks to KFC. Simply a strong piece of marketing; in 1974 they launched a campaign with the slogan ‘Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii’, or ‘Kentucky for Christmas’. And the fact that this campaign took off is quite an understatement.

According to marketing professor Joonas Rokka, this is because KFC managed to fill a void, a gap in the market. Christmas traditions did not exist at all in Japan. Zero. Nada. So when this campaign started, people began to make plans during Christmas, and thus traditions were born.

Whole roasted chicken
By the way, that doesn't mean that only buckets are going over the counter, you know. Especially for Christmas, they also sell other, somewhat ‘luxurious’ menus. Like a whole roasted chicken, for example. Complete ‘Christmas dinner packages.’ It may not sound very Christmasy, but yes, in 2020 nothing goes according to plan, so this seems like the perfect year to change things up and enjoy ordering from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Idea?

Image: Instagram @kfc_japan