Tuesday, July 07, 2009

5 comments:

c-freeunicormmie said...

Is this for real?

:)

micro said...

Yuppers, I believe it is.

Lorne Roberts said...

i'm assuming that whoever made these gets the joke, yeah?

remember after 9/11, when France wasn't howling for Muslim blood the way the U.S. was, and so all the McDonald's in the D.C. area starting calling fries "Freedom Fries"?

that was the funniest ever, if only it weren't so sad and awful at the same time.

Lorne Roberts said...

ok. you MUST READ THIS.

it's a bit long (will take you 1 min to read), and is both hilarious and tragic.


from wikipedia: Freedom Fries

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 rename French fries to "freedom fries". This action was carried out without a congressional vote, under the authority of Ney's position as Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, which oversees restaurant operations for the chamber. The simultaneous renaming of French toast to "freedom toast" attracted less attention.[1]


According to a statement released by Ney, this move was intended 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."



The Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. made no comment beyond pointing out that French fries probably 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 were not the first to rename French fries "freedom fries"; a number of private restaurants across the country began the renaming movement. Neal Rowland, owner of the privately owned fast-food restaurant Cubbie's in Beaufort, North Carolina began the movement by selling his fried potato strips under the name "freedom fries". Rowland claimed that his intent was not to slight the French people, but rather to be "patriotic and supportive of President George W. Bush" after hearing the news of the French opposition on 19 February 2003. He explained that the name change came to mind after a conversation with a history teacher about World War I, during which anti-German sentiment prompted Americans to rename German foods.[4] Sauerkraut was renamed "liberty cabbage", dachshunds renamed "liberty pups", and hamburgers renamed "liberty steaks" or "Salisbury steaks" (a name that remains in use.)

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 May 2005, Representative Jones, having arrived at the belief that the United States went to war "with no justification", said of the "freedom fries" episode: "I wish it had never happened."

By July 2006, the House had changed the name of the two foods in all of its restaurants back to "French fries" and "French toast".

D.Macri said...

Has everyone seen "You're welcome America" with Will Farrel? It's pretty hilarious/scary, and I suggest you watch it.