Burger store owner Mark Elkhouri was more than delighted when he found out that Kanye West had been viewing his burger stores Instagram stories. However, after receiving a very stern letter from West's team proved that the artist was far from pleased.
The letter contained a cease and desist notice from West, asking Elkhouri to paint over the mural of the US rapper, erase the logo of his restaurant that was inspired by the rapper's College Dropout album cover, as well as abandoning menu items that play on West's song titles.
The old menu had a fried chicken burger called Golddigger, a breakfast burger named Good Morning and a Cheezus burger named after his album Yeezus.
“It’s pretty hard being a Kanye West fan with this situation, we have to respect his wishes and move forward,” Elkhouri told The Age. “The fact he was viewing our [Instagram] stories and was there had me believe he was a fan of us.”
The store will remain named as College Dropout Burgers, but will be inspired by famous people who literally dropped out of college including Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Steven Spielberg.
Elkhouri did see the positive side of the notice stating, "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.”
The owner is still optimistic that he will talk through things with West, holding the West flavoured branding into storage while leaving a single burger without an eponym, just in case West changes his mind.
“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.”
