Who would have thought that Japan can’t get enough KFC on Christmas Day?
Although Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan as less than one percent of the population is Christian, on Christmas Eve little boys and girls will put on their jackets with anticipation in their eyes. The family will gather together and travel into town to get in line for their traditional Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas dinner.
Wait…What?
That’s right, thanks to the successful “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!” campaign, or “Kentucky for Christmas!” marketing campaign in 1974, Japan can’t get enough KFC on Christmas Day.
Legend has it that a group of foreigners couldn’t find turkey on Christmas day and opted for fried chicken instead. Kentucky Fried Chicken saw this as a prime commercial opportunity and launched its first Christmas meal that year: Chicken and wine for 2,920 yen, or $10.00. Today the Christmas chicken dinner, which now boasts cake and champagne, goes for about 3,336 yen or $40.
And the people come in droves. Many order their boxes of ”finger-lickin’” holiday cheer months in advance to avoid the lines, some as long as two hours.
Evidentally, KFC’s exclusive holiday special sells out every year with some placing their orders months in advance, and an estimated 3.6 million Japanese households will head to KFC to celebrate the holiday.
These days, KFC records its highest sales volume each year on Christmas eve. Back office staff, presidents, and execs come out to help move the lines along. Fried chicken and Christmas have become synonymous as KFC’s advertisements feature major pop cultural figures chomping on drumsticks and the company website even has a countdown until Christmas.
More Crazy Christmas Traditions to come.
