Perhaps, but this isn't one of those stories. There's a genuinely interesting history to how KFC became a Japanese Christmas staple - well, I found it interesting, at least.
But when I finished I didn't have a better understanding of Japan's people, culture, or cuisine. Only a p-hack explained by multi-national marketing.
That's good enough piece
Where I'm from everything is closed on Christmas, even Wal-Mart, except the local Chinese takeout, so if you don't want home cooking, that's your one option.
Now, living in a larger area, there are some other limited options but as a seventh generation European descended American I have never known a single family that celebrated Christmas by going to a franchise restaurant
Not everyone has a large family after growing up and getting holiday meals from "strange" places isn't that strange. Getting a fully cooked holiday meal from the grocery store is a thing, lots of restaurants do this as well. Boston Market often has menu items of turkey/dressing/potatoes/etc that one might think of a traditional holiday meal, so this isn't a stretch for them.
You and GP might be talking past each other. GP is talking about "Honey Baked Ham" as a brand name. You might be talking about honey baked ham as a generic food.
I've also spent all my life in the US in vastly different regions, and I've never heard of a franchise called Honey Baked Ham, but I'm aware of honey baked ham as a food product.
Funny thing was, I had never heard of Honey Baked Ham until my first boss told me he used to be a manager at one. The irony there was that he was Jewish and didn't eat pork.
Not OP, but I’m from the Midwest, and I find your “must be a California thing” hilarious given that we were eating a Honey Baked Ham at least once a year over 40 years ago. Imagine my surprise (and regret that I had since gone vegetarian) when I moved to the west coast and found a Honey Baked Ham store in Bellevue, WA. My wife still gets one once in a great while, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t sneak a piece or two.
Anyway, back to the point, looking their website prompts me to ask where one would have to live in the U. S. and not be within an hour’s drive of a store.
Figure out where it takes a couple hours of driving to get to an international airport and you'll have an idea.
Anyway, I just assume anything people on this site assume everyone has seen is from California, especially if I've never heard of it.
Maybe I've just never been in the market for fast food ham? I still feel like this is a weird example of something Americans commonly do on Christmas.
From Seattle, same story. Thanksgiving and Christmas always included honey baked ham.
So no, standard families in the suburbs may be making their own meals, but there are certainly many people in the US that aren't in that situation. Young people away from home, singles and couples, non traditional families, families that don't have time to cook because of jobs or don't want to. There are many people who get holiday meals from these restaurants.
And if you're hitting up Taco Bell on Cinco de Mayo, you're doing it wrong. Home-make 7-layer dip and margaritas (if you're into that kinda thing) is how we rock it in Colorado.
The meme-able phenomenon the OP is talking about is very real and certainly not regional or niche e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/9z7zd6/honey_ba...
Growing up in a rural area with Chinese takeout as the only Christmas option is well protected from the pre-conditioned Honey Baked Ham holiday lifestyle.
Problem is that TFA never called anyone wacky; they didn't try to pass judgment at all -- and the United States wasn't ever involved in either side until you injected them into it , unless you blame the country for KFC all together? I don't follow.
Surely there must be some behavior you find strange from Britain ; you know -- the originator of the article -- without trying to loop around the world to drag another country through the mud?
> “Those whacky Japanese” is a perennial category of bus-plunge journalism.
'bus-plunge journalism' isn't only about needlessly expanding nothing stories into pages, it also includes a level of exaggeration. I guess you could say the headline is exaggerated because it's not the entirety of Japan that celebrates with KFC? Feels like yak-shaving, most assume that headlines don't apply universally to entire countries full of people.
> Americans don’t think Honey Baked Ham or Boston Market on a holiday is weird
(as an American I do.. but who cares, let's look at the numbers)
The Honey Baked Ham Company says that it services about 2.5 million customers between Thanksgiving to New Years, meaning that the KFC phenomenon in Japan is significantly stronger, given that TFA states that 3.5 million families purchase KFC for Christmas in Japan.
Smaller time frames, smaller country, more sales; seemingly stronger trend.
Maybe we are all wacky, but clearly Americans are sensitive…
Even if a person isn't British -- but as noted that's the primary intended audience here. An audience where Kentucky and fried chicken and "Colonel" as an honorary vary between a bit culturally alien to quite so indeed.
The British press, BBC included, has a long history of portraying the otherness of anyone complected unlike a Windsor. I mean the BBC broke Lilibet-naming-gate.
Every restaurant is packed for Valentines. It's a big date night. Going out on a date means going out to eat. There's nothing specific to Outback about going there on Valentines, that's just where some portion of people go. Same with Applebees.
And while Americans celebrating Cinco de Mayo is odd, it's not a uniquely Taco Bell thing. Any vaguely Mexican adjacent business will advertise around it.
This mashup of KFC and Christmas is a very brand specific thing unique to that country.
Your screenshots folder will be filled within a few weeks. ;P
Going to western Europe feels like the US. Going to Japan from the west still feels like traveling the world once did. Its unique culture is appreciated worldwide, even from closest neighbors.
They had smartphones almost a decade before we did. They had high speed rail before anyone else . Manga and anime are now worldwide, but they were born in Japan. Kawaii has spread to south Korea and to some extent the west, but it was born in Japan. Hanko instead of signatures is unique. Bowing. Onsen. Sumo. Vending machines. Much of the food... There's countless examples.
We're should be celebrating human uniqueness, Japan is a special place
It only seems odd if you don’t think about it much. Americans don’t think Honey Baked Ham or Boston Market on a holiday is weird though both are franchises and Boston Market was formerly a McDonalds brand.
Try to book a table at Outback on Valentines (or even get seated at Applebee’s).
And while Americans have good cause to celebrate Benito Juarez saving their bacon by stopping the French while Americans were busy killing each other from fixed positions in the Civil War, Taco Bell chalupa combo boxes with a forty ounce no ice Mountain Dew doesn’t really align with Cinco de Mayo any better than extra crispy at xmas.
Every body is whacky.