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"Freedom fries" was a short-lived name used by some in the United States for French fries. The "freedom fries" affair was an example of anti-French sentiment in the United States. In the international debate over the decision to launch the 2003 invasion of Iraq, France expressed strong opposition in the United Nations to taking such action. The French position was not popular among conservatives in the United States, leading some Republicans to campaign for the boycotting of French goods and businesses and the removal of the country's name from products.
The Congressional renaming
On March 11, 2003, Representatives Robert W. Ney (R - Ohio) and Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R - North Carolina) declared that all references to French fries and French toast on the menus of the restaurants and snack bars run by the House of Representatives would be removed. House cafeterias were ordered to re-name French fries as "freedom fries". This action was carried out without a congressional vote, under the authority of Congressman Ney's position as Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, which oversees restaurant operations in the house. The simultaneous renaming of French toast to "freedom toast" attracted less attention. *
According to a statement released by Ney, this move was a symbolic effort to express displeasure with France's "continued refusal to stand with their U.S. allies" (see Iraq disarmament crisis). The statement further read: "This action today is a small, but symbolic, effort to show the strong displeasure many on Capitol Hill have with our so-called ally, France."
This sentiment was communicated through the Internet, chain e-mails and by frequent references on 24-hour news coverage from stations like CNN and Fox News.
The French embassy made no comment, except to note that French fries come from Belgium. "We are at a very serious moment dealing with very serious issues and we are not focusing on the name you give to potatoes," said Nathalie Loisau, an embassy spokeswoman.
Congressmen Ney and Jones, however, were not the first to re-name French fries as freedom fries. A number of private restaurants across the country started the renaming movement. Neal Rowland, owner of the privately owned fast-food restaurant Cubbie's in Beaufort, North Carolina, decided to sell his fried potato strips under the name "freedom fries." Rowland claimed that his intent was not to slight the French people, but to be patriotic and support President George W. Bush. Many of Rowland's customers were among the local military troops.
Despite the symbolic change, it did not take hold in any meaningful way. Many Americans refer to French fries simply as "fries", so the leading adjective is largely ignored anyway. The only real effect the incident seems to have had was to provide comedians, satirists, and others with fodder for jokes for a few months.
French kissing, French poodles, French dip sandwiches, French ticklers, French horns, French augmented sixth chords, France, and American actor French Stewart were not renamed, though some political satirists referred to them as if they had been. However, Reckitt Benckiser, makers of French's mustard, was sufficiently concerned to clarify that their brand name was derived from a family name and to issue a press release affirming its patriotism. **
In 2005, Jones, having come to the belief that the United States went to war "with no justification", said of the "freedom fries" episode, "I wish it had never happened." *
Historical parallels
Politically-motivated euphemism like this is reminiscent of anti-German sentiment during the First World War, when sauerkraut was renamed liberty cabbage, and hamburgers, liberty steaks. Even the German measles were instead called liberty measles. This similarity is intentional: Rowland described a conversation about these renamed foods during World War I as the inspiration for "freedom fries."
Previous attempts to rename food during wartime have been largely unsuccessful, with one notable exception being the change of frankfurter to hot dog during World War II; although frankfurter is still recognized, it is no longer commonly used; the abbreviated form frank, however, is still popular.
In other countries
Other examples were filete imperial ("imperial beef"), a euphemism for filete ruso ("Russian beef") and "ensaladilla nacional" ("national salad") instead of "ensaladilla rusa" ("Russian salad"), both appearing in Spain after the triumph of the Fascist General Francisco Franco. "Ellinikos kafes" ("Greek coffee") replacing "Turkikos kafes" ("Turkish coffee") on Greek menus after the Turkish-Greek collisions of the 1920s and in Turkey Russian salad became American salad because of the anti-Communist sentiment in the country.New Zealand: In 1998, while the French government was testing nuclear weapons in the Pacific, French loaves were renamed Kiwi loaves in a number of supermarkets and bakeries. This, however, does not appear to have been as extensively reported or publicized as anti-French sentiment in the United States. However, French Fries at a few family restaurants were renamed Kiwi Fries, or just "Fries", which was already an established term. The "Fries" tag remains today, though many New Zealanders use the British word "chips".
New Zealand: The kiwifruit gets its name from a marketing strategy, naming it after the kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand, where the fruit was first commercially popularised in 1959 by the New Zealand fruit-and-vegetable export company Turners and Growers; previously it was known as the Chinese gooseberry, but due to the Cold War, the Chinese label seemed unfit for popularization of the fruit in Western countries. Growers gradually adopted the name and in 1974 the kiwifruit became the official trade name.
Russia: The city of St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd during World War I because it sounded too German.
United Kingdom: During World War I, the German Shepherd was renamed the Alsatian and German biscuits were renamed Empire biscuits due to strong anti-German sentiment. Similar renaming happened in Czechoslovakia after World War II. Perhaps most famously the name of the royal family was changed by George V in 1917 to Windsor from the German sounding surname Wettin and house name Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Canada: During World War I, the Ontario city of Berlin was renamed Kitchener.
Austria: According to legend, during the Turkish invasion of Austria during the 17th century, a reverse example of this sort of propaganda occurred: the croissant, a crescent-shaped pastry, was created as a way to satirize the Turks, whose emblem was the crescent.
Iran: Danish pastries were renamed to "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad" in February of 2006 as a result of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. *
Germany: In 1915, after Italy entered WW1, restaurants in Berlin stopped serving Italian Salad.
See also
- Anti-French sentiment in the United States
- Francophobia
- W Ketchup
- Jingoism
- Old Europe
- Roses of the Prophet Muhammad
References
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External links
- Federal France-Bashing Standards & Guidelines - From whitehouse.org parody web site (not whitehouse.gov).
- House restaurants change name of 'french fries' and 'french toast' - CNN Report
"Freedom fries"