Renaming was initiated in February 2003 by Beaufort, North Carolina "Cubbie's" restaurant owner Neal Rowland, who said he was motivated by similar actions against Germany in World War I, when "sauerkraut was called liberty cabbage, and frankfurters were renamed hot dogs". In an interview about the name change, Rowland commented "since the French are backing down , French fries and French everything needs to be banned". In March 2007, Rowland obtained a trademark registration for the term "freedom fries". Cubbie's owner Darius Ballou of the Morehead City, NC store also supported Rowland and did the same.
U.S. House adoption
On March 11, 2003, Republican U.S. Representatives Bob Ney and Walter B. Jones directed the three House cafeterias to change all references to French fries and French toast on menus, and replace them with Freedom fries and Freedom toast, respectively. Jones chose to follow Cubbie's example by circulating a letter to his colleagues advocating their renaming because, he said, "the French were 'sitting on the sidelines. As Ney was Chairman of the United States House Committee on House Administration, the action did not require any vote, as the committee has authority over House cafeterias. According to a statement released by Ney, the renaming was intended to express displeasure with France's "continued refusal to stand with their U.S. allies". 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." When asked about his view on the change, Jones said it was a "lighthearted gesture".
Reactions
In response to the change, French Embassy spokeswoman Nathalie Loiseau commented "It's exactly a non-issue... We focus on the serious issues", and noted that fries originated in Belgium. She then remarked that France's position on the change was that they were "in a very serious moment dealing with very serious issues, and we are not focusing on the name give to potatoes". After the name reversal, an Embassy spokeswoman said: "our relations are definitely much more important than potatoes ... and our relations are back on track". The first episode of , an American travel and food show, was broadcast during this era. Freedom fries was shown as an example of the then-current frosty relations. It was named "Why the French Don't Suck". In a 2005 opinion poll by Gallup, participants were asked if they felt the renaming of French fries and toast was "a silly idea or a sincere expression of patriotism"; 66% answered it was silly, 33% answered it was patriotic, and 1% had no opinion. Several restaurants followed the Houses' change, and the name is still used by the chain restaurant Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill and Army Navy in the Philippines in order to complement the latter restaurant's military theme. Opposing the name change, The Saturn Cafe in Santa Cruz, California changed their menu to "Impeach George W. Bush fries". Meanwhile, Reckitt Benckiser, maker of French's mustard, were sufficiently concerned about the movement to publicly clarify that its brand derived from a family name. , the sign previously read "French". MassachusettsDemocratic Congressman Barney Frank noted that the change made "Congress look even sillier than it sometimes looks". New York Democratic Congressman José Serrano characterized the renaming as "petty grandstanding", and urged fellow legislators to concentrate on more pressing issues. In the March 15, 2003 episode of Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey reported this on the satirical Weekend Update: "In a related story, in France, American cheese is now referred to as 'idiot cheese'." The 2006 documentaryFreedom Fries: And Other Stupidity We'll Have to Explain to Our Grandchildren directed by Carl Christman took a comedic viewpoint on American consumerism and patriotism. In the episode "Stan Knows Best" of American Dad!, after being asked how his French toast is, the main character Stan remarks: "Smelly and ungrateful! But this American toast is delicious." In the comic stripDoonesbury, the characters Mark Slackmeyer and Zonker Harris criticized the name change in French. Slackmeyer said that, translated, the U.S. liberated France in World War II; and that many French newspaper headlines after 9/11 were "We are all American". At the end, he states that the anti-French were "jingoistic, self-regarding conquer-monkeys!" The French Americanindie band Freedom Fry chose their name based on the Freedom Fries phenomenon. In 2005, Robert Plant and his band Strange Sensation released the album Mighty ReArranger, which contains the track '"Freedom Fries", an anti-war song whose lyrics contains the words "Freedom fries and burns and scars, the liberator goes too far".
Policy reversal
On August 2, 2006, the House cafeteria menus were changed back without any announcement. The change was made by the new House Administration Committee Chairman, Vern Ehlers, who replaced Ney following his resignation due to a scandal. When asked about his decision, Ehlers responded, "It's no big deal... It's not news." When asked in 2005 about his opinion on the "freedom fries" episode, Walter B. Jones responded, "I wish it had never happened."
