2. The Avengers - Shawarma
If an unremarkable Adam Sandler comedy can have a noticeable effect on the popularity of Middle-Eastern food, just imagine the results of a similarly throwaway gag in one of the biggest movies of all time. That's just what happened when, seemingly out of the blue, the Avengers' outspoken hero Iron Man broke up the big final battle scene by asking Captain America: "Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is but I want to try it." Perhaps realising that this joke had no punchline, director Joss Whedon later reassembled the Avengers for a silent post-credits gag that showed them enjoying the spit-roast-meat-in-pita-bread treat. (In the time that had passed since shooting the movie, Chris Evans had grown a beard and was wearing some dodgy facial prosthetics, hence why he's covering his face in the shot above). The whole thing gets even more geeky when you consider that apparently the use of shawarma is actually
a call back to Whedon's Buffy The Vampire Slayer star Nicholas Brendon. The actor reputedly won the role of Xander in the cult TV hit with an audition in which he enthused about the little heard of Levantine specialty. In the weeks that followed The Avengers' massively successful release audiences seemed to decide en masse that, like Tony Stark, they didn't know what shawarma was but they really wanted to try it. In Los Angeles,
an 80% boost in sales was reported in one shawarma restaurant following the film's release. One can only assume that sellers of baklava are on tenterhooks awaiting a similar reference in Age Of Ultron.