HAVE YOURSELF A CHICKEN VITTLES CHRISTMAS

Posted on 12/22/2015 | About Japan

Knowing that only one percent of the Japanese population is Christian helps this story make sense. Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan. But they do recognize the day with enthusiasm. It all started decades ago with a marketing campaign called “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!” That’s when Kentucky Fried Chicken became a Christmas dinner ritual in Japan.

The story is that in the early seventies Americans in Japan could not find turkeys on Christmas day so settled for the bucket instead. Kentucky Fried Chicken had just recently come to Japan. Have yourself a deep fried little Christmas, force your heart to fight, From now on, the arteries will feel quite tight. It is said that when the corporate office heard of the popularity of their take-out chicken dinners from the manager of the Aoyama store they started the campaign “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii” (roughly translated to ‘Christmas is Kentucky’).

In those days the bucket included chicken and wine. The marketing was so intense, the phrase caught on and to this day contributes to the highly commercial non-religious celebration of Christmas in Japan. Have yourself a brand awareness Christmas, make consumers say, From now on, the Colonel is on Santa’s sleigh.

The popularity increased every year so much so, that people line up for hours every Christmas eve. To avoid that, the stores started taking orders, often months in advance to reduce the long queues. KFC upper echelon are known to come out to help move the lines along at the stores. Few marketing campaigns enjoy decades of success as this one has. ‘One of the reasons the campaign lasted so long is that the message is always the same: at Christmas you eat chicken,’ Yasuyuki Katagi, executive director at Ogilvy and Mather (Japan) told the Financial Times. Here we are in geo-target days, guerilla market days in store, Consumer goods that are dear to us, impact us; once more.

The bucket is now called the Party Barrel and includes cake and champagne! The Kentucky craze reached a new high ten years ago when Japan Airlines started offering Air Kentucky trays with two pieces (one white, one dark) of chicken, coleslaw, a bun and some lettuce leaves. This year the promotion is from 01 December to 28 February on flights between Tokyo and Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, Boston, Chicago, London, Paris and Frankfurt. Through the years, herbs and spices blend together, Recipe’s a secret vow, chicken, rolls and coleslaw is a cash cow. So have yourself a finger lickin’ Christmas chow.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!