 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 <unk> were renamed hot dogs " . In an interview about the name change , Rowland commented " since the French are backing down [ from the war ] , French fries and French everything needs to be banned " . In March 2007 , Rowland obtained a trademark registration for the term " freedom fries " . 
