Every Christmas Eve for the past 65 years, Swedish families have stopped everything to celebrate with a Christmas duck. That duck is none other than Donald Duck, starring in a Disney TV special known in the US as “From All of Us to All of You,” but known in every Swedish home as Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul (which translates to Donald Duck and His Friends Wish You a Merry Christmas). The special made its debut in Sweden at 3 p.m. on December 24, 1959, and has aired to huge ratings every Christmas Eve since.
How did Kalle Anka become so popular? When the show first aired, only two TV channels were available in Sweden, giving it an audience of half of all television viewers. Subsequent Christmas Eve broadcasts continued to draw a massive following with an average of 40% of Swedes tuning in, and in 1997 more than half the population watched.
Swedes are also focused on this tradition. In 2016, cellphone usage dropped by 28% while the show was on.
In Japan a marketing campaign by Kentucky Fried Chicken makes many Japanese associate the slogan Kentucky is Christmas. Japanese families preorder their KFC to celebrate Christmas Eve.Christmas Eve is celebrated in Japan like Valentines Day is in America.