ENTERPRISE: THE COLONEL COMES TO JAPAN (TV)
Summary
One in this series of documentary programs which examine the American business community. Eric Sevareid hosts this documentary, which concentrates on the attempt by American fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken to gain a foothold in the protected Japanese market. Focusing on the daily duties of Loy Weston, chairman of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Japan, the program examines the cultural differences which had to be overcome for the American poultry powerhouse to open and maintain over 300 restaurants in Japan in eleven years. Highlights include the following: footage of many life-size statues of "Colonel Harlan Sanders" -- the chicken chain's apocryphal antebellum progenitor -- on the back of a flatbed truck being hauled to various franchise locations; footage of future employees diligently working their way through B.O.T. (Basic Operation Training) and O.J.T. (On the Job Training); training in the behind-the-counter technique by a Japanese woman who claims to be able to say, "May I help you?" in over one hundred shadings of intonation; Weston recalls how he hired an industrious young Japanese man to be his principal lieutenant, although it is unusual for someone so young to have such responsibility in a Japanese company; differences in the Kentucky Fried Chicken menu in Japan; why Weston felt the life-size Colonel shrines would make for effective display advertising; the process of adapting American television advertising to the Japanese market; Weston's comments on the advantage Japanese businessmen enjoy over American businessmen; the old-fashioned tradition of new Japanese businessmen introducing themselves to their new neighbors, requesting their good will before they open their stores; a convention for Kentucky Fried Chicken employees in Japan, which sees Weston leading his employees in spirited cries of "Banzai!"; a new KFC outlet being given a traditional Japanese christening as well as the traditional American ribbon-cutting ceremony; Joe Duckel, manager of Church's Texas Fried Chicken in Japan, explains why he believes his company will be successful competing with Kentucky Fried Chicken in the Land of the Rising Sun; and Weston's view of Kentucky Fried Chicken's American competitors in Japan.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS WGBH Boston, MA
- DATE: October 9, 1981
- RUNNING TIME: 0:28:39
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:38178
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Chickens; Fast food; Japan - Cuisine
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1981-1984
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Zvi Dor-Ner … Executive Producer
- John Nathan … Producer, Director , Writer
- Ben Loeterman … Associate Producer
- I. Sano … Production (Misc.), Production Manager
- Eric Sevareid … Host
- Loy Weston
- Harlan Sanders