But, another German "fast food" got an unwitting boost from President Kennedy in that era. Making his famous visit to the Berlin Wall, JFK said, "Ich bin ein Berliner."
He meant to say that he was standing, as one, with Berliners. But "ein Berliner" is a German pastry; so what he said to the Germans was, "I am a pastry." He should have said, "Ich bin Berliner."
That's a myth. He said what he meant, and everybody got the message. In some parts of West Germany a donut-like pastry is called "Berliner". In Southern Germany they call it "Krapfen". And in the Eastern parts of Germany (including West Berlin) it's called "Pfannkuchen". But even in West Germany nobody misunderstood him.
We even have a pastry called "Amerikaner".
