Why Japan Celebrates Christmas with KFC (2016)

That's brilliant marketing: find a cultural event that doesn't have established traditions in an area, and fill the void with your product. I wonder what might be some cultural vacuums waiting to be filled in the United States... I suppose one example might be how big Cinco de Mayo is in the US, and its association with margaritas.

There&#x27;s a great videographer on YouTube named Chris Broad who moved to Japan and has been living there for something like 10 years now. He does a show called &quot;Abroad in Japan&quot;<p>He did a great video on this topic which is worth checking out (as well is all his other content for those interested in Japanese culture!)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;Pp6ggz_uwWE" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;Pp6ggz_uwWE</a>

So Japan has Christmas traditions from KFC&#x27;s marketing and the US and Europe from Coca Cola&#x27;s marketing

I have some Japanese friends that never could explain me this tradition. I always thought that it was introduced by some American navy&#x2F;soldiers that while stationed in Japan wanted to celebrate Christmas, and the only western restaurant in the city&#x2F;region that they could find, was a KFC.. I still think my theory&#x2F;urban legend is way better ;)

“Those whacky Japanese” is a perennial category of bus-plunge journalism.<p>It only seems odd if you don’t think about it much. Americans don’t think Honey Baked Ham or Boston Market on a holiday is weird though both are franchises and Boston Market was formerly a McDonalds brand.<p>Try to book a table at Outback on Valentines (or even get seated at Applebee’s).<p>And while Americans have good cause to celebrate Benito Juarez saving their bacon by stopping the French while Americans were busy killing each other from fixed positions in the Civil War, Taco Bell chalupa combo boxes with a forty ounce no ice Mountain Dew doesn’t really align with Cinco de Mayo any better than extra crispy at xmas.<p>Every body is whacky.

Christmas in Japan was pitched by retailers as a fun way to spend your year-end bonus.<p>Similarly, Valentine&#x27;s Day was pitched by chocolate companies as a time to buy chocolates for your sweetheart. There are actually two such days: on Valentine&#x27;s Day women give chocolates to their sweethearts, while on White Day (March 14), said sweethearts return the favor.<p>Japanese people are starting to do things for Halloween. I am not sure what the marketing story is behind that.

One past thread:<p><i>Japan Celebrates Christmas with KFC</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=16002210" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=16002210</a> - Dec 2017 (9 comments)

Also see: the Curse of the Colonel[0].<p>[0]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Curse_of_the_Colonel" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Curse_of_the_Colonel</a>

It&#x27;s worth noting that KFC in other countries is often better than the greasy mess we typically find in the US. Same with McDonald&#x27;s in my experience as well.

As a US-living Japanese, I was deeply disappointed when I stopped by a KFC on a Christmas day (not as planned, but just for curiosity.) Even though it&#x27;s not for everyone as other comment suggests (KFC density in Japan isn&#x27;t prepared for that.) It&#x27;s still something. Here in US it&#x27;s nothing!<p>Note that it&#x27;s not that common to see roast chicken in grocery stores in Japan. So KFC isn&#x27;t the worst option if you crave chicken for some reason.

&gt; While millions do celebrate Christmas with KFC, others in Japan treat it as a romantic holiday similar to Valentine’s Day, and couples mark the occasion with dinner in upscale restaurants. For other Japanese families, Christmas is acknowledged but not celebrated in any particular way.<p>It seems strange at first, but it makes sense when you consider only about 1.5% of Japanese people are Christians. Christmas as we know it in countries with a Christian majority doesn&#x27;t mean much to them.

The real story is, most people in Japan don&#x27;t bother to eat KFC on Christmas. I never did. It&#x27;s just KFC spend money on ads in Christmas. It goes the same for Valentine&#x27;s day(to gift chocolate) or Halloween(cosplay) or whatever foreign culture marketing people felt exotic and fresh to shove it to the general mass.

That&#x27;s funny: in my family we have a similar tradition for Pâques : when I was young my mother would spend a lot of time cooking but now we usually order sushi: we enjoys more the family reunion without having to spend half a day (at least) cooking..

Another Japanese Christmas classic is the song Christmas Eve by Tatsuro Yamashita, it was used in a romantic Japan Railways campaign in the 90s and it&#x27;s still pretty popular.

&gt; How a fast-food marketing campaign turned into a widespread Yuletide tradition for millions.<p>Christmas here too was a marketing campaign gone wrong.