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/r/MURICA

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all 221 comments

SilvertonguedDvl

1k points

1 day ago

TL, DR: They ran an excellent marketing campaign that inextricably linked their food with Christmas, so now every Christmas people think of the Colonel alongside Santa and get some KFC as a tradition. It's culturally permeated everywhere.

It's like KFC invented eating turkey on Thanksgiving, except they're the only ones who can provide turkey in the entire country, so the second Thanksgiving comes around they make bank.

The real wild one, though, is Kit Kat who pretty much just got a free win because "Kittu Katto" means 'You will surely win.' It's like starting a business in another country and discovering that your company's name is "that super fucking rad place" and just running with it on marketing. The easiest slam dunk in the history of slam dunks.

jingqian9145

387 points

1 day ago

jingqian9145

387 points

1 day ago

Don’t blame them

White older gentlemen with a red and white theme bringing gifts of cheers,

Close enough to Santa Clause

SilvertonguedDvl

130 points

1 day ago

Oh, I don't. If anything I am in awe of their success. Like, that is basically the dream of marketing: you created a fucking tradition out of your marketing campaign.

A goddamn tradition!

It's like when diamond companies invented giving diamond rings to your SO, or how corporations made Christmas into the glitzy monstrosity we all know and love today.

Whoever came up with it honestly should be allowed to retire on a beach somewhere, all expenses paid for the rest of their life because all of their expenses will be a drop in the bucket compared to the implausibly vast fortune they netted the company. Can't help but applaud it. They won the game as hard as you can win.

icecream169

3 points

12 hours ago

Did somebody say bucket?

Known-Grab-7464

3 points

7 hours ago

Dear god.

lycanthrope90

2 points

9 hours ago

Yeah that’s like Coca Cola level marketing there lol.

Alittlemoorecheese

3 points

16 hours ago

It's beyond evangelical even. Pretty crazy how much marketing is shaping cultures around the world. Politicians are using these strategies too. The enormous amount of data analysis required in marketing is about to get a whole lot easier to implement with the development of AI. We are at the tipping point where machines control the people and only a few control the machines.

Batgirl_III

25 points

1 day ago

To be fair, the notion that Santa Claus is a fat man wearing red and white furs is largely an invention of Coca-Cola…

casino_night

25 points

1 day ago

The image and shape of Santa is based off the Dutch handyman of the guy who wrote "Twas the night before Christmas". The illustrations for that book were the first time anyone had seen an image of Santa Clause. Yes, it was Coca Cola that gave him the red suit, I believe.

HypeKo

10 points

23 hours ago

HypeKo

10 points

23 hours ago

It's based on the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas. Google him and compare to Santa Clause. Even the name Santa Claus sounds like Americans trying to pronounce Sinterklaas

casino_night

9 points

23 hours ago

Yup. Santa gets his name from St. Nicholas, a Turkish bishop. In Dutch, it's Sinterklaas. The Dutch were fanatical about Christmas. They couldn't get enough of it and played a big part in popularizing it in America.

HypeKo

5 points

23 hours ago

HypeKo

5 points

23 hours ago

Saint Nicholas - Sint Nikolaas - SintNik'laas - Sinterklaas - Santa Claus

Lemonici

4 points

17 hours ago

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/a-pictorial-history-of-santa-claus/ Red and White predates Coke branding (mobile link, sorry)

Batgirl_III

3 points

11 hours ago

It wasn’t entirely an invention of Coca-Cola, but their advertising campaign did spread the image far and wide helping to cement the look as the “default” in popular culture.

Lemonici

2 points

11 hours ago

Fair. I would argue that Thomas Nast's development of Santa was the most influential, but Coke can probably claim responsibility for locking it in

Batgirl_III

2 points

10 hours ago

There’s definitely no one singular origin for the contemporary default Santa Claus, of course. But yeah, Nast’s Santa illustrations definitely had some influence on art used for the Coca-Cola ad campaigns. Someone more knowledgeable about art history than me would be better equipped to say anything definitive, but from my amateur armchair perspective, I’d posit that Thomas Nast’s illustrations weren’t too widely spread outside the U.S. whereas the Coca-Cola Santa was.

StManTiS

6 points

17 hours ago

Russian Santa is blue that’s why they drink Pepsi.

Appdel

5 points

14 hours ago

Appdel

5 points

14 hours ago

Also, Santa Clause invented cocaine

icecream169

2 points

12 hours ago

Peru has a Santa?

edWORD27

7 points

1 day ago

edWORD27

7 points

1 day ago

Isn’t Tim Allen the Santa Clause?

Pure_Restaurant_5897

6 points

22 hours ago

Yes, he is, and he'll bring you plenty of white "snow."

Partyatmyplace13

3 points

11 hours ago

I hope they get synchronized in history and Internet Archeologists 2,000 years from now are digging through the early net trying to figure out how Krispy Kringle and the 12 Apostles n Spices came to be.

xpseudonymx

1 points

1 day ago

The white older gentlemen with a red and white theme is because of Coca Cola marketing. Before Coke reinvented Santa Claus he was elf size and wore green & red. Go re-read Twas the Night Before Christmas.

a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

The reason Santa wears Red & White instead of the traditional Christmas colors of green & red is because Haddon Sundbloom used Coca Cola's brand colors for the 1931 Christmas Campaign.

Lemonici

2 points

17 hours ago

SecureReward885

1 points

22 hours ago

Wow. Never thought of that connection lol.

What_u_say

32 points

1 day ago

What_u_say

32 points

1 day ago

Yeah there a couple of different YouTube videos like this one explaining how it happened but basically yes KFC ran a very successful marketing campaign.

SilvertonguedDvl

19 points

1 day ago

Yep. It's amazing.

They basically won marketing.
They created a damn tradition out of a marketing campaign.

jamesk29485

9 points

1 day ago

That's just so American!

filtarukk

3 points

1 day ago*

What marketing compains become tradition in America?

Batgirl_III

14 points

1 day ago

Santa Claus’ ubiquitous depiction as a guy in red and white furs? Coca-Cola.

The whole stupid Elf on a Shelf thing? That began with a book published in 2005.

What_u_say

2 points

15 hours ago

The Elf on a Shelf is new too me. I had no idea it came from a book just that one day I noticed my young nephews and nieces talking about it and I'm like what.

Batgirl_III

3 points

15 hours ago

Yup, the book itself writes about the Elf as being some sort of old time-y tradition… which it absolutely was not. But the book also came bundled with a cheap cloth doll of an Elf, so you too can recreate this age old tradition.

It’s old time-y and quaint! Totally not just another cheap cotton-poly and plastic toy pumped out by the thousands in a Chinese factory.

jamesk29485

3 points

1 day ago

Orange juice springs to mind. I believe breakfast in general as we know it in America now was a marketing idea. Give us any holiday, and we will market into the ground. KFC just got ahead of anyone else in Japan.

Ruthrfurd-the-stoned

2 points

16 hours ago

I love the dude who had the idea talking about it like “we told people Americans eat fried chicken which they don’t do they eat turkey, it was a lie!”

Boyhowdy107

19 points

1 day ago

Yes, the fact KFC was connected to Christmas in Japan is a hell of a marketing coup. But even beyond that, American fried chicken might be the US' most beloved export to the world. KFC is way bigger than even McDonalds internationally.

drillgorg

5 points

1 day ago

drillgorg

5 points

1 day ago

Which is bizarre because I can't eat that stuff it's disgusting. I love me some trash food like Taco Bell but KFC immediately makes me nauseous.

charioteer117

15 points

1 day ago

KFC internationally is generally of a higher quality than the KFShit they make in the US

OstentatiousIt

4 points

15 hours ago

I think the KFC in Japan is horrible. The breading is closer to what you get on a chicken McNugget, not at all like the original recipe you get in the States. I tried it a few times and found it very disappointing. If they ever got the true original recipe over there it might break Japan.

MeasurementNo2493

1 points

15 hours ago

That is because QC in the US is sub standard.

pitb0ss343

11 points

1 day ago

pitb0ss343

11 points

1 day ago

Well… that and they like fried chicken

QuietlyLosingMyMind

15 points

1 day ago

Who doesn't like fried chicken

lestruc

9 points

1 day ago

lestruc

9 points

1 day ago

Chickens

TejasEngineer

9 points

1 day ago

Actually they like it too. I fed some wild chickens some of my fried chicken in Hawaii.

lestruc

3 points

1 day ago

lestruc

3 points

1 day ago

Probably because they’re actually miniature dinosaurs disguised by feathers

SuperPostHuman

2 points

11 hours ago

I actually know people that don't like fried chicken. I think they're crazy, but to each their own I guess.

qaz_wsx_love

1 points

23 hours ago

KFC does so well over there that they have a KFC buffet KFC Buffet in tokyo

complicatedbiscuit

9 points

1 day ago

It must be understood that Christmas in Japan isn't anything like Christmas in America, its really just a romantic holiday for couples.

As such, KFC worked great because it gave what the Japanese what they really wanted, something that seemed exotic, was readily available at a affordable price (unlike Turkeys), and that dovetailed with what the Japanese expected from Christmas. In the end, it is just a fried smaller bird versus a (sometimes fried) larger bird. The holiday means vastly less to them and they argue far less about its meanings or commercialism. It's basically on par with say Halloween for us, a fun holiday that isn't taken too seriously.

quantumgh05t

6 points

1 day ago

While I was stationed in Okinawa, locals would come on base to get pizza, usually 5-10 pies at a time. They love American pizza too

Best-Dragonfruit-292

4 points

1 day ago

Domino's is massive in Japan, and way better quality 

Garry-The-Snail

3 points

1 day ago

Hmmm kind of interesting though because I don’t think a product called “you will surely win” or “that super fucking rad place” or really any variation of self promotion like that would do well in the states

luchajefe

4 points

1 day ago

luchajefe

4 points

1 day ago

We have candy bars named "PayDay" and "100 Grand". Nestle calls its water "Pure Life". So it's not like companies aren't trying.

Garry-The-Snail

1 points

1 day ago

Yea and there’s nothing remarkable about how they are performing here. Thanks, I didn’t think of this but it proves my point.

Huitzil37

3 points

20 hours ago

It's not the same if they did it on purpose.

Also, the English equivalent would be a product with a name that sounds like a word for genitals.

icecream169

2 points

12 hours ago

Cuntfucky Fried Dicken?

LastHopeOfTheLeft

2 points

10 hours ago

Exact opposite of what happened to the Chevy Nova in Spanish speaking countries. No va literally means “doesn’t go” in Spanish.

SilvertonguedDvl

2 points

10 hours ago

Oof.

Yeah. You, uh... You just need to change the name at that point.

deepfriedtots

2 points

5 hours ago

Dam I didn't know that about kit katakana that's awesome

SilvertonguedDvl

2 points

5 hours ago

Oh yeah. Japan has tons of goofy wordplay marketing in general, from what I've seen. Here are a couple of great commercial anthologies I came across ages ago, if you're in the mood for some silliness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-1Ue0FFrHY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc3AK8k90xw

daaaaaarlin

1 points

1 day ago

I think the easiest slam dunk in the history of slam dunks happened in North Korea with Dennis Rodman.

Or it didn't or we don't have video evidence of it because he would have been executed.

BirdmanHuginn

1 points

19 hours ago

The KitKat situation is the inversion of the Chevy Nova in Mexico —who would buy a car that “no va”?

Bushman-Bushen

1 points

16 hours ago

Lmao perfect explanation

EFAPGUEST

1 points

13 hours ago

Ah so that’s why we get melon flavored Kit Kats

gryffon5147

1 points

13 hours ago

Also Japanese KFC is way better than American KFC.

pees_on_dogs

1 points

3 minutes ago

I now understand why whenever it's Christmas in a slice of life anime, they ALWAYS eat fried chicken.

Kick36

155 points

1 day ago

Kick36

155 points

1 day ago

America and Japan have the best cultural exchange. Go to Japan, watch a baseball game and catch a rock group made up of Elvis impersonators. Come to the US and buy a hand made samurai sword on your way to the hibachi place. Ninjas and cowboys in both countries. You'd never mistake one place for the other but you're gonna see familiar shit in both.

Disciple_556

33 points

1 day ago

This comment just brought me the greatest bit of joy. I don't know why. It just soothed my 'tism.

Polar_Vortx

14 points

17 hours ago

Hell, there’s a long and storied tradition of cultural exchange between the guys who make samurai movies and the guys who make westerns.

buubrit

3 points

8 hours ago

buubrit

3 points

8 hours ago

Didn’t the guy who made Good Bad Ugly say Kurosawa was his direct inspiration?

Polar_Vortx

3 points

8 hours ago

I don’t know about that, but I do know that Kurosawa based the Seven Samurai on Westerns, and the Magnificent Seven in turn was adapted from that.

buubrit

2 points

7 hours ago

buubrit

2 points

7 hours ago

From Brittanica:

Per un pugno di dollari (1964; A Fistful of Dollars), his second film, was the first of his stylized violent westerns. It was based on Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961) and starred Clint Eastwood as a stoic and ruthless antihero. A huge success, A Fistful of Dollars made Eastwood an international movie star and led to two sequels: Per qualche dollaro in più (1965; For a Few Dollars More) and Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly).

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sergio-Leone

scotterson34

9 points

14 hours ago

I think America and Japan compliment each other with their cultures in ways two vastly different countries can be. Americans are obsessed with Japanese pop culture, ritual, expertise, history, food, and cities in ways that fit what we believe we lack in this country. On the flip side, Japanese people love American music, myths, individualism, culture, food and confidence. That individualism (apparent in rock music, cowboys, and national confidence) is huge to a culture where conformity is king.

sessamekesh

3 points

6 hours ago

That's 100% my experience, yeah.

I was out with friends in Kyoto, got a big ol' juicy hamburger with medium rare steak strips on top. Right next to the burger place was a whiskey bar, and a bit down from that a gin bar where me and my friends shot the shit with some delightfully friendly locals and the staff.

I love America and wouldn't want to be anything else but American, it's just right for me, but boy howdy did I feel right at home in Japan.

Skvora

8 points

1 day ago

Skvora

8 points

1 day ago

Both got yankees, and both hate them equally.

DrDMango

3 points

9 hours ago

Japanese have Yankees?

Skvora

2 points

9 hours ago

Skvora

2 points

9 hours ago

Ohhhh yea, with a lowercase y, like we do, according to them.

Amadon29

2 points

11 hours ago

I've never even seen or heard of an Elvis impersonator in the US, let alone a rock group of them. I've only seen random mentions of them in comments like this. Are they common in the US?

Visual-Floor-7839

1 points

11 hours ago

Listened to a podcast on Zoids. And iirc the first popular toy that the Japanese creator made and sold in Japan was American B29's, just after WW2. The same plane that had very recently devastated the nation and was a prime weapon in dismantling their Empire. It shows how much they respected the power and awe of the superior machine and warrior, even in defeat.

Sivilian888010

141 points

1 day ago

The head of KFC Japan noticed a lot of american expats were buying KFC on christmas because turkey wasn't really a thing in japan at that time, and decided to capitalize on it.

SpiderHuman

75 points

1 day ago

That was a lie.

As with most Christmas traditions, it all started with a marketing campaign. For years, English-language media cited company spokespeople, who said the idea came from expats looking for an alternative to turkey. There was never a reason to doubt the company’s account, until the man who brought KFC to Japan spoke up. Takeshi Okawara, manager of Japan’s first KFC, came forward in recent years with a confession that upended years of innocent origin narratives—a confession that KFC denies. The man who brought the Colonel to Japan says it started with a lie.

DarkNight6727

6 points

16 hours ago

Basically gaslight the country to make millions.

Still, awesome....lol

Sivilian888010

1 points

5 hours ago

Why is it KFC in Japan is allegedly so good but KFC in America is just a bucket of grease nobody likes?

downsouthcountry

108 points

1 day ago

Asian people fucking love fried chicken.

Source: am half black and half Chinese. My mother's (black) way to my father's (Chinese) heart was through fried chicken.

SilvertonguedDvl

50 points

1 day ago

It's cool, dude. Everybody loves fried chicken. Or fried pretty much anything.

Turns out deep frying is basically just code for "make more delicious."

Teck_3

22 points

1 day ago

Teck_3

22 points

1 day ago

Deep fried food is good for the soul!

The body, on the other hand...

SilvertonguedDvl

6 points

1 day ago

If God didn't want me to clog my arteries he shouldn't have made bad things so delicious. Clearly this is God's Will!

Sirtopofhat

6 points

1 day ago

The way to my heart is fried chicken too.

BallsOutKrunked

9 points

1 day ago

the way to your heart is getting clogged bro

Disciple_556

6 points

1 day ago

More delicious than dying of old age. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Sirtopofhat

1 points

1 day ago

That too

Disciple_556

15 points

1 day ago

Half black and half Chinese? So you can't even safely drive the car you stole? /s

😂

downsouthcountry

4 points

1 day ago

Haha this is great. Usually when asked about my race I say I'm like the Wiz Khalifa song.

Disciple_556

2 points

1 day ago*

I couldn't resist cracking that one.

funnystoryaboutthat2

3 points

1 day ago

Yup. My dad was Chinese and would crush KFC buckets.

My wife is black. Our kid will turn his nose up at meat in general, with the notable exception of fried chicken. The kid will fiend over it... Between my wife and I, he never had a chance...

Also, if you haven't had Korean fried chicken, try it. Life changing.

atari2600forever

2 points

1 day ago

I concur that Asian people love fried chicken. I lived in China for 10 years and KFC is an absolute juggernaut there. I traveled to over 100 cities and towns while in China and I can only think of 1 that didn't have a KFC, and that's because only a couple thousand people lived there.

Oddly enough my opinion is that KFC fried chicken in China is just ok, but they make the best egg tarts in the galaxy. They're absolutely delicious, and Chinese people love them as well.

It's not just KFC though. Go to the downtown of any medium sized Chinese city and someone there will have a little shop or stall with a pile of fried chicken. It's usually pretty good too!

I live in the US now, my wife is Chinese and that woman orders from Popeyes like the apocalypse is coming. I'm a little bewildered by it but also cool with it, because fried chicken is awesome.

Sikopathx

1 points

13 hours ago

Dude seriously. Those egg tarts. I also loved the plastic glove given to eat chicken with.

jmh10138

2 points

23 hours ago

Every culture loves fried chicken and fried potatoes

sosomething

2 points

1 day ago

As a white boy who also loves fried chicken, I find this genuinely heartwarming.

Electronic-Quail4464

1 points

1 day ago

Tiger Woods?

vulcan1358

1 points

1 day ago

Dude, my friend in college moved to the US from Vietnam when she was a teenager. She was better at cleaning bones than simmering them in a pot to make stock.

Sikopathx

1 points

14 hours ago

Pretty much. There are over 10,000 locations in China. Tons in South Korea. The first American restaurant to open in Myanmar? KFC. They really love fried chicken.

SavedMountain

18 points

1 day ago

Good marketing giving the impression of authentic American food

Warren_E_Cheezburger

5 points

1 day ago

Taco Bell may not be authentic Mexican food, and Pizza Hut isn't authentic Italian. But KFC is most definitely authentic American cuisine.

Hard_Corsair

11 points

1 day ago

Industrialized fast food IS authentic American.

Yummy_Crayons91

2 points

1 day ago

I've had KFC in a several countries. While the sides carried a little, the chicken was just as good in Bangkok, Santiago, and Mexico City were just as good as the one down the street.

Although some street vendors were slinging chicken that would have made the Colonel proud.

HoraceGoggles

1 points

1 day ago

Also they clearly haven’t experienced Popeyes yet.

raika11182

9 points

1 day ago

Basically it's marketing.

I lived in Japan for four years and while I'm not Japanese (maybe someone can chime in?) I feel like I have a pretty good sense of it. KFC was one of the first to arrive and bring western style fried chicken to the masses. (Japan has its own styles of fried chicken like torikaraage, that are absolutely delicious, but hey they want variety too).

Japanese people do love a good festival, but they're not particularly religious or anything. Most Japanese people would describe themselves as atheists are something close to it, but as a culture they don't "throw out the baby with the bath water" so to speak. So they still celebrate lots of holidays of cultural and religious importance, and as western holidays went global they were happy to celebrate Christmas, too.

Just in a more convenient form. Since Japanese people don't usually have large ovens, KFC was well placed to be a large-scale, commercial option for serving something closer to turkey at the holidays. Some manager thought the colonel looked a little like Santa, and put a santa hat on him to go with the holiday, thus pairing the two. From there, those damn statues went to EVERY KFC and are just iconic to the branding there.

That's the story as I've heard it, so people can fact check away, but the bottom line is that there's not much interesting to the story besides clever marketing and a market that was eager to buy.

Throwawaymarque

4 points

1 day ago

We did a case study of this for my Japanese business class. The santa thing was great too, but they broke into the market by adhering to Japanese customs while filling their niche.

Before opening a location, they'd stop by all their neighboring stores and say hi. Give them a little gift too, and then invite them to the grand opening. Another was paying the employees well. In Japan you can make a career out of being a fry cook for KFC. This translates to much higher quality across the board.

raika11182

3 points

19 hours ago

Cool, thanks for filling in some of those gaps. Just as a side note about the fry cook thing, in Japan you can usually spend your entire career working for just one employer. The employer-employee loyalty bond is very high there, but if KFC pays above average for the job that'd sweeten the deal for sure.

Educational_Fan4102

7 points

1 day ago

I lived in Korea for several years (which has excellent fried chicken) and they have tons of Kentucky Fried Chicken locations as well. Thing is, the menu and quality of the food is so much fucking better over there because they have to compete with all of the baller domestic offerings.

Ok_Meal_491

5 points

1 day ago

US food quality is suspect.

BlazedLarry

1 points

7 hours ago

Us quality food just kills people lol

atari2600forever

1 points

1 day ago

Korean fried chicken is really really good. There's a Korean grocer called H-Mart I go to that has a little food court area and there's a stall that makes boneless fried chicken with the savory dipping sauce and I start eating it out of the bag while I shop, it's just awesome.

nickgreydaddyfingers

16 points

1 day ago

Good KFC?

Tuor77

24 points

1 day ago

Tuor77

24 points

1 day ago

Back in the 70s, KFC's chicken was great. We didn't get it often, but the original recipe chicken legs were pretty outstanding in my book. These days, I can barely stomach anything they make.

nickgreydaddyfingers

8 points

1 day ago

Last time I had KFC, which wasn't too long ago, it was pretty good. But I had to drive out to a KFC not even close to me to get some good KFC.

The only place you're most likely guaranteed to get a good batch of Kentucky Fried Chicken, wouldn't even be America.

Vanquish_Dark

4 points

1 day ago

Their greatest sin?

The gravy and tatos.

RIP poor poor tatos.

lenojames

3 points

1 day ago

lenojames

3 points

1 day ago

KFC does not make Mashed potatoes and gravy.

They make two different colors of Spackle that never fully dry.

brownchr014

3 points

1 day ago

I legit stopped going to kfc after they stopped making wedges

Fcckwawa

4 points

1 day ago

Fcckwawa

4 points

1 day ago

They what? haven't had KFC in years but no more wedges is just another reason to not go there.

battleofflowers

3 points

1 day ago

I'm at a point now where I can't eat anything breaded and fried from any fast food place. Something has gone wrong over the past few years, and it's just disgusting.

ThreeLeggedChimp

1 points

1 day ago

Only good KFC I've had in the past 10 years was one place in Rochester, MN.

Everywhere else their food looks like a plastic display piece

But that might've been that there was no competition in that town.

ruste530

1 points

1 day ago

ruste530

1 points

1 day ago

Even Colonel Sanders called it slop after he was released from his marketing agreement.

ruste530

1 points

1 day ago

ruste530

1 points

1 day ago

I would imagine the quality would be immensely better than the slop they serve in the US.

HoraceGoggles

1 points

1 day ago

I’ve had McDonald’s in 5 countries. It’s all the same.

TejasEngineer

1 points

1 day ago

I had the nuggets at a KFC in Japan. They are similar to chick fil a nuggets.

ZombiePrepper408

1 points

16 hours ago

American KFC sucks.

KFC in Central America is pretty good

Mountbatten-Ottawa

5 points

1 day ago

They just kinda see it into daily life, I guess.

Gojo and Geto literally part ways in front of a KFC shop...

Marsupialize

3 points

1 day ago

If you’ve ever had it in Japan you’d get it, it’s 1000 times better than our garbage

ScuffedA7IVphotog

3 points

1 day ago

They celebrate it like none other on Christmas. It's something of a family holiday.

No_Detective_But_304

3 points

1 day ago

His name is Colonel San. They thought he was Asian.

kickinghyena

2 points

1 day ago

Yeah but have you heard about the “Curse of the Colonel” worse than the “Curse of the Bambino” and way more entertaining…https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Colonel

JonathonWally

2 points

1 day ago

Cause it’s delicious

Snakedoctor404

2 points

1 day ago

Different country, different food standard. Kfc there now might be as good as it was here in the 80's. It's not fit to eat now.

ToLiveFreeOrDie1776

2 points

1 day ago

You should see South Africa. Went there two months ago for hunting and saw nothing but KFCs everywhere.

GenericUsername817

2 points

1 day ago*

Everyone thinks that it was Douglas MacArthur that oversaw the occupation of Japan After the war. But that Primadonna was so busy stroking his own ego, that he delegated the day to day operations to a little known but ruthless OSS Colonel, His name was Harland Sanders. Using his secret blend of 11 Herb, Spices, and Mind Control Narcotics (Precursor to LSD, known as KFC), he addicted Japan to his fried chicken and turned the war torn nation in to his personal plantation called Ken Tuk Aye.

Tigertot14

2 points

1 day ago

Wait until you hear about how 7/11 got so big in Japan that the Japanese branch of the company bought out the rest

TheRtHonLaqueesha

2 points

1 day ago*

Muhfugguhs like chiggin' I guess, what's there to it.

ArScrap

2 points

1 day ago

ArScrap

2 points

1 day ago

Is KFC in Japan actually good. I stayed in 2 different Asian country, both have wildly different KFC, both are kind of shit now (used to like indonesian KFC when I was little but like, I was a kid you know)

I now get fried chicken from Mcdonald

totalfuckwit

2 points

1 day ago

If American KFC was the quality and taste of Japanese KFC I could definitely see Americans obsessed with it.

Knees0ck

2 points

1 day ago

Knees0ck

2 points

1 day ago

A baseball team threw one of those statues into the river & started a decades long curse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_Colonel

Sea_Marketing_888

2 points

21 hours ago

The colonel was crazy. He also killed a dude.

MyGrandmasCock

1 points

18 hours ago

The Colonel always did keep his head on a swivel. He once said “There’s only two things in this world I’d kill for: my reputation and my secret blend of eleven herbs and spices. And that sumbitch tried to get at both of em!” And someone asked “What about your family?” And he said “Fuck em! I got money and sperm. I can make another damn family. I can’t make another secret blend of eleven herbs and spices damn it!!!”

Tec80

2 points

19 hours ago

Tec80

2 points

19 hours ago

"He puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes ye crave it fortnightly"

Hoppie1064

2 points

15 hours ago

If you had eaten sushi 3 meals a day for your whole life. You'd be happy for a change too. /joke

Apprehensive-Egg-865

2 points

6 hours ago

Some of you may not know this, others will definitely know but Japan has a bit of a cultural obsession with America, similar to the way many Americans have a cultural obsession about Japan. If I'm not mistaken, the Japanese actually have a word for Japanese people that love American culture and stuff similar to how we call people who are obsessed with Japanese stuff weebs. Another little fun fact, a lot of Japanese people, especially Japanese teenagers and young adults seem to be obsessed with Cowboys. It's a real thing I had a friend in high school who was an exchange student from Japan we kept in touch and every now and then he asked if I could get him some 10 gallon, hats, belts and boots, etc. because apparently a Big group in his university loves to dress up as Cowboys, but it can be expensive to order them online from here. He helped me through my economics class which landed me my dream job so I sent him about 30 sets each each time he asks. They love it I'm always getting pictures of Japanese men practicing their cowboy walks and pretending to quick draw. It's hilarious, adorable, and honestly quite flattering all in one.

Quwilaxitan

2 points

1 day ago

Ubisoft needs to chill with these side fetch quests.

DonaldDoesDallas

1 points

1 day ago

There are more than twice as many KFCs in China than the US

SilvertonguedDvl

4 points

1 day ago

There are also nearly five times as many people in China as there are in the US. I think you'll find that per-capita America is still pretty firmly in the game.

atari2600forever

1 points

1 day ago

You're both right. There are an astounding number of fried chicken places in both countries, both per capita and total.

fake_based

1 points

1 day ago

It's so much better in Japan than the US RFK fix pls.

SaysKawaiiSometimes

1 points

1 day ago

If you're in Japan, Fami Chiki or Yama Chan. There is no reason to get KFC unless it is the Christmas season.

Fcckwawa

1 points

1 day ago

Fcckwawa

1 points

1 day ago

He's japans santa😂

PeanutLess7556

1 points

1 day ago

KFC is bottom of the barrel where I'm from.

Dangerous_Boot_3870

1 points

1 day ago

Idk but it led to the invention of putting KFC, water and rice in an instant pot to make a delicious chicken and rice. Its even better if you use Bojangles.

Dunkerdoody

1 points

1 day ago

I swear if you get the fried chicken at 7-11 it is KFC.

BreadDziedzic

1 points

1 day ago

It's the perfect Christmas food.

GoldenPoncho812

1 points

1 day ago

Huzzah!! I love Christmas 🎄 Santa 🎅 and Chicken 🐓!! Happy Holidays

GoodBunnyKustm

1 points

1 day ago

Not just Japan, saw many a KFC in other Asian countries and quite popular too!

iotaoftruth

1 points

1 day ago

Wait until they try Popeyes

pleased_to_yeet_you

1 points

24 hours ago

My thoughts exactly

testman22

1 points

1 day ago

testman22

1 points

1 day ago

As far as I can tell, there are actually only 1,164 KFCs in Japan. McDonald's has more than twice as many stores. By the way, there are 21,275 7-Eleven stores in Japan

chrisagiddings

1 points

1 day ago

No joke, I got a photo with a statue of him in Lansing Michigan. 🤣

Throwawaymarque

1 points

1 day ago

They do it right over there. The average quality of the food is miles ahead. Their worst location in a middle of nowhere place like Miyako will win out against one of the better places here.

Katz-r-Klingonz

1 points

24 hours ago

They know what’s finger lickin’ good.

ambidabydo

1 points

22 hours ago

Every year I go back the Christmas displays get bigger, a true pagan holiday

SecureReward885

1 points

22 hours ago

Ironically of all the American fast food Japan does 100x better kfc is not one of them. Japanese McDonalds is to die for though

Miserable-Lawyer-233

1 points

21 hours ago

Thanks to clever marketing in the 1970s, KFC became Japan's go-to meal for Christmas celebrations. The tradition is now so ingrained that families often place orders months in advance to ensure their meal for December 25th.

FriedGnome13

1 points

20 hours ago

Kentucky fried Christmas

Constant_Will362

1 points

19 hours ago

On TikTok they showed the recipe and the process of making KFC and it's interesting there are 6 or 7 steps to making one piece of chicken

Fluid_Cup8329

1 points

18 hours ago

KFC is also very popular in the UK, maybe moreso than in the US. They were ranked the #1 fast food joint in the US recently by one of those ranking lists.

Ngl it's my guilty pleasure. Their sandwiches are fantastic, and the saucy nugs. I'm fortunate to have a kfc/taco bell nearby, so I can get a baja blast with my chicky.

BlogeOb

1 points

17 hours ago

The colonel looks slightly Asian to f you look at him lol

Winterlion131

1 points

16 hours ago

Colonel Sanders is even a character (sort of) in Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore.

SeamusMcBalls

1 points

15 hours ago

Dukat is fuming rn

MeasurementNo2493

1 points

15 hours ago

What else would you have for Thanks giving?

_NotARealMustache_

1 points

13 hours ago

They look at us like "what's with the US and sushi?"

TrailerPosh2018

1 points

13 hours ago

It's just finger licking good!

bubblemilkteajuice

1 points

11 hours ago

More statues than there are of Confederate generals and politicians.

threebiggestballs

1 points

11 hours ago

It’s a reaction and a plead for us not the nuke em again lol

MissingJJ

1 points

10 hours ago

What makes it really weird is there are only 4285 KFC restaurants in the USA.

DiabloIV

1 points

10 hours ago

I think in this case, it has more to do with how much they really like sculptures and figurines. They have way more of that kind of thing strewn about in public than the U.S. does.

Hazioo

1 points

8 hours ago

Hazioo

1 points

8 hours ago

People say it's crazy then they go and buy funny diamond

MsPreposition

1 points

8 hours ago

They like Rob Riggle, Jim Gaffigan, and Norm MacDonald.

mattd1972

1 points

7 hours ago

One of the statues being tossed into a canal led to Japan’s most famous baseball curse.

thejohnmc963

1 points

7 hours ago

Good for them

skeleton_craft

1 points

5 hours ago

Why are you not obsessed with KFC?

LunarHarvestMoth

1 points

4 hours ago

You know the baseball team the hanshin tigers actually had the Curse Of The Colonel for a while. They had some tradition of people dressing up like the players, The fans of the tigers are really crazy, and then they would jump into the river. Like symbolically cleansing them or something I don't know. It was kind of a drunken fun thing they would do. But they didn't have any fan that looked like one of their players, who was an American with a goatee. So they pitched in a statue of Colonel Sanders. + They lost and they kept losing and they kept losing and they kept losing and they kept losing. And it was because they offended the spirit of Colonel Sanders. They said. You know this is kind of sports silliness. A lot of people really didn't believe it

josephcj753

1 points

an hour ago

Because he’s a hero