Why Christmas In Japan = KFC #shorts

Why is KFC a Christmas tradition in Japan?

Every year, millions of families in Japan tuck into kentucky fried chicken at Christmas. And KFC’s mascot, Colonel Sanders, has become the symbol of Christmas. If you google Christmas Japan, the top result in Sanders in a Santa suit.

But why?

Well, one year the manager of KFC’s first ever store in Japan overheard tourists say that they’d missed not having turkey at Christmas, since it wasn’t a tradition in Japan. But that gave him an idea: what if they could create their own tradition, and KFC could replace turkey?

In 1974, KFC ran a campaign: ‘Kentucky for Christmas’, and they invested lots of money in ads to associate KFC and Christmas together. They were a little sneaky though as they implied that this was already a tradition in the US, when in reality if you showed up to christmas with a bucket of KFC in the US, you’d get very weird looks.

But in Japan, the idea really caught on - it's become so popular to have KFC at Christmas that you have to order weeks in advance because of demand, and it accounts for up to a third of KFC’s yearly sales in Japan! No wonder the guy who came up with the idea got promoted to CEO.

So that's why KFC is a Christmas tradition in Japan! For more business and marketing stories, subscribe to HonestTalkStories. #shorts