--- title: "F1 Is So American Now It Even Has Its Own KFC Meal" date: "2025-06-09" modified: "2025-06-09" authors: - name: "Jerry Perez" job_title: "Deputy Editor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/jerry-perez" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/f1-is-so-american-now-it-even-has-its-own-kfc-meal" categories: - "F1" - "News" - "Racing" --- # F1 Is So American Now It Even Has Its Own KFC Meal ![F1 KFC]() *\KFC/YouTube\* I remember people asking me about my favorite sport when I was a kid. I'd just say "car racing," never bothering to specify it was [Formula 1]() because no one in the U.S. knew what the hell that was back then. Nine out of 10 times, people would say, "Oh, you like [NASCAR]()!" That's not the case anymore, as F1 has officially broken into American culture. The [Liberty Media]()-owned racing series is as recognizable across the country as the NFL, and I don't need any silly studies or viewership statistics to prove this. All I need to validate this theory is the KFC [commercial]() embedded below, promoting the KFC Fill Up Box Box Box. Get it? *Box box box.* What's more American than KFC? Oh, what's that—McDonald's, you say? Well, [rumor has it]() the Golden Arches is also coming out with an F1-themed Happy Meal. I know what you're thinking: the KFC commercial is promoting the F1 movie and not exactly the F1 series. Okay, sure, but that's pretty much the same thing, given that the film was intended to serve as a marketing tool for the series from day one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmM1FSSnyUs The Joseph Kosinski-directed movie features Brad Pitt and Damson Idris as headliners, and took two years to finish, while an "11th F1 team" traveled the world for 16 months filming real on-track scenes during actual racing weekends. Some [reports]() peg the total cost of the movie at around $300 million. As someone who grew up with F1 since the late '80s and has witnessed its incredible growth in the U.S. thanks to Netflix's Drive to Survive, these advertisements are a finish line of sorts. F1 has made it into mainstream media, and now into the marketing-hungry fast food industry. It simply doesn't get more American than that. F1, you've arrived. *Got a tip? Email us at tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Jerry is responsible for upholding The Drive's ethos as an audience-first, enthusiast-driven car blog that serves up industry-leading news, reviews, culture, and motorsport coverage. Overseeing a staff of writers and editors from his home base in Indianapolis, he helps curate the site's daily rundown, as well as its medium- and long-term content strategies. Jerry joined The Drive in 2018 as a writer and worked as news editor and managing editor before becoming the deputy in 2023. As a lifelong car enthusiast and racing fan, Jerry believes that all cars are cool, but the people behind the machines are even cooler. This belief often gives The Drive a slightly different focus from most other car sites, where we explore the humanity behind the machines. When he's not obsessing over the day's biggest stories or hanging out at a race track, Jerry can be found behind the wheel of a car, most likely sharing a laugh with his teenage son or daughter. ### Author social links [Instagram]()