Mark Elkhouri thought that creative idol Kanye West following his College Dropout Burgers business on Instagram could be a stamp of approval, but then a letter from West’s lawyers arrived showing the artist was far from rapt.
The cease and desist notice has forced Elkhouri to paint over a mural of the US rapper, also known as Ye, at the store in Melbourne’s north-east and erase a crowned teddy bear logo inspired by artwork from West’s debut College Dropout album.
College Dropout burger owner Mark Elkhouri has received a cease and desist letter from Kanye West’s lawyers. Mark was forced to paint over a mural, change the name of the burgers and change the logo at his Ivanhoe business.Credit: Joe Armao
The Ivanhoe store is also abandoning menu names playing on West song titles, including a fried chicken burger called Golddigger, a breakfast burger named Good Morning, and a Cheezus burger named after album Yeezus.
“It’s pretty hard being a Kanye West fan with this situation, we have to respect his wishes and move forward,” Elkhouri said.
“The fact he was viewing our [Instagram] stories and was there had me believe he was a fan of us.”
The store will continue to be named College Dropout Burgers but will instead serve up meals named after famous people who dropped out of education including Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
The logo, based on West’s College Dropout bear, has to change. Credit: Joe Armao
Elkhouri left university early to pursue business, owning dessert bars at La Trobe and RMIT universities that he shut during the pandemic. Those experiences and Elkhouri’s love of West’s music and creativity gave birth to the burger store.
“Kanye West is the biggest artist of our time,” Elkhouri said, adding he found parallels in West’s music with his own life after his mother died in 2009.
Elkhouri said he was swallowing his disappointment and not allowing it to ruin his fandom, believing a “real Kanye fan will always defend” the controversial artist.
“Being a Kanye West fan has led me into this position where I have to still support him,” he said.
Mark Elkhouri has renamed his burgers after famous college dropouts. Credit: Joe Armao
Elkhouri also acknowledges the change might help his burgers appeal to a bigger market, given he hoped to appeal not only to West fans.
“Moving forward, I feel like it is a bit of a blessing in disguise,” Elkhouri said. “Because let’s face it, not everyone is a Kanye West fan.”
However, Elkhouri still has hopes to talk things through with West, putting the unusable branding into storage and leaving one of his burgers without an eponym in case West one day agrees to have his name on the menu.
“It’s the only burger name I haven’t changed,” he said.
“I am extremely disappointed. There’s no doubt about that, but it doesn’t even come close to the impact that he’s had on my life.”
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