KFC Bucket Meals Are Getting A Retro Makeover For The Holidays
As anyone who spends the holiday season watching classics of yesteryear like It's a Wonderful Life and the Rankin Bass claymation specials knows, the Christmas spirit is timeless. Eleven months out of the year, you may be living in 2020, on the lookout for the latest thing. But come December, we're all listening to Nat King Cole and telling stories about a centuries-old man who lives in the North Pole. So it's fitting that this year, KFC is bringing back its retro Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket designs from 1966 and 1971, celebrating Christmas with some vintage flair.
"KFC bucket meals have been bringing people together around the dinner table for more than 60 years," KFC's U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Andrea Zahumensky explains in the buckets' press release (via Cision PR Newswire). "Even though the holidays may look a little different this year, we hope our holiday buckets help everyone hark back to a simpler time and bring some comfort and joy to your homes and your families throughout the season."
Three limited-edition buckets
In addition to re-releasing the 1966 and 1971 Christmas buckets featuring Colonel Sanders in a festive Santa Hat, KFC has also released a new 2020 bucket with a retro-inspired design in the same style. If you get a bucket with chimneys and tinsel, it's the new old design.
The buckets are a decades-long staple of American fast food. According to the KFC Newsroom, Pete Harman, who owned the first KFC franchised restaurant, also sold the first bucket meals back in 1957. The meals included mashed potatoes and gravy and 14 pieces of chicken, kicking off an iconic tradition.
In addition to the holiday buckets, KFC is also celebrating the holiday season by bringing back its fried chicken-scented firelogs made with the chain's eleven signature herbs and spices (via KFC Newsroom), which are available for purchase at Walmart. The buckets, meanwhile, are available either at your local KFC restaurant or by ordering on kfc.com, DoorDash, Postmates, Uber Eats, Grubhub, or Seamless.