
A White Lie Gave Japan KFC for Christmas - wglb
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-japanese-christmas
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BlameKaneda
Japan has a similar story with the "Christmas Cake":

"Christmas cakes...[were] popularized when they began sales at Ginza, the
central commercial district in Tokyo. This was during the time when Japan was
going through massive waves of Westernization, particularly by the upper elite
class. Members of the upper class, who had a strong penchant for Western
cultures in general, enjoyed Western style desserts as a delicacy. Thus, being
a Western style dessert, Christmas cakes were associated with the idea of
Western modernity and social status. It was a major hit when the Christmas
cakes were commercialized and became more affordable to the general public."

"The Christmas cakes today are symbolized as a ritual of Christmas
celebration; specifically, the act of sharing the cake with family or
friends."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cake#In_other_countr...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cake#In_other_countries)

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ksec
And Korea Put SPAM ( As in the luncheon meat ) in Christmas Gift Box.

[1]
[http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190122000585](http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190122000585)

~~~
goodcanadian
Nothing beats the spam musubi in Hawaii.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_musubi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_musubi)

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mysterydip
I did a college abroad program to Japan many years ago, and this was one of
the funniest culture shocks I had. I was dumbfounded and astonished as my
friends told me that's how they celebrated. I didn't know the story behind it
until now, but I thought it was one of the most brilliant marketing moves
ever.

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butisaidsudo
Me too! I spent Christmas there many years ago, and every person I talked to
asked:

1\. Are you going back home for Christmas?

2\. No? Oh are you going to get a Christmas cake from KFC?

I was like, Christmas cake? And why KFC specifically? My confusion confused
them just as much. Maybe they later thought it was because I was Canadian so
it must just be an American thing.

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cbhl
The reverse version of this is pretty sobering: Japanese or Chinese person
makes it to Canada, and excitedly goes to the nearest KFC or McDonald's, and
gets culture shock from how run-down it is. Especially if they're downtown in
a big city.

It makes you want to drive them two hours out to a small-town fast-food
restaurant to show them that indeed, a clean and tidy KFC/McDonald's does
exist somewhere in America.

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longstation
KFC in China tastes better than ones in America, probably just my taste.

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lozaning
It has always tasted the same to me, once you'd scraped off the double dollop
of mayo they seem to put on the Chinese version of everything.

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patio11
There’s a good documentary from early 80s about this, The Colonel Comes To
Japan. You can find it at your local library or (with dubious copyright
status) your local YouTube.

The narrative in the documentary does not straightforwardly square with this
article.

~~~
krispyfi
Wow! In college my friend found it in an obsolete format (BetaMax?) in the
college library. It is a comedy goldmine. ("Banzai!" _coughing fit_ ) We still
occasionally laugh about it 15 years later. Highly recommended.

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innocentoldguy
This wasn't a lie in my case. My grandma loved KFC and growing up, from the
late 60s to the late 80s, KFC was a staple of every Christmas in my family
until she passed away.

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porlex
It is also true in my case. My extended family still gets KFC every Christmas
Eve.

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mywittyname
My mother claims this was tradition in her house growing up as well. I think
KFC was a little more upscale back then and eating out at all was considered
luxurious.

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sombremesa
I wasn't able to figure out what the lie was, exactly. Is it in the article?

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MikeAmelung
It's there but kind of easy to miss. A TV interviewer asked if KFC for
Christmas was a popular tradition in the West, and he replied that it was,
despite knowing that it was not.

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tabtab
He could have said, "Yes, poultry is very popular during Christmas in the
West." That's probably what a skilled politician would do: lie without lying.
If pressed further about KFC itself, he could have said, "KFC is one of many
stores which sell poultry in the West, but here in Japan, KFC is the largest
store selling Christmas poultry[1]." However, you'd probably have to know the
questions in advance to practice your wording. Most politicians ask for the
questions in advance as part of the agreement to appear. A chicken sales-
person probably doesn't have that luxury.

[1] There was no concept of "Christmas poultry" in Japan outside of his own
invention, with decorated packaging etc., so technically he's either true, or
the concept was too ambiguous to be objectively false.

~~~
nkrisc
You could go one further and just say, "yes, Americans eat birds on special
days."

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tabtab
Nice!

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glandium
Speaking about Christmas in Japan:
[https://twitter.com/i/status/1072108595137794048](https://twitter.com/i/status/1072108595137794048)

