Murder Burger & Burger Fuel battling over killer name

Burger wars have come to Ponsonby as new company Murder Burger, which opened two weeks ago, has become embroiled in a legal stoush with established chain Burger Fuel.

Earlier this year Burger Fuel registered the trademark ‘Murder Burger’. Burger Fuel founder Chris Mason says this was not in response to the new company, but rather because Burger Fuel was trialling a range of burgers under the ‘Murder Burger’ name.

“It was just an idea we had,” says Mason. “We decided it wasn’t a name we wanted to move forward with.”

Murder Burger Ltd filed its opposition to Burger Fuel’s name registration with the Intellectual Property Office in June, and the case is yet to be decided.

Matt Blomfield, one of Murder Burger’s three directors, believes Burger Fuel registered the trademark because they “got wind that we were setting up”.

He says a supplier used by both companies told Burger Fuel, whose flagship store is in the same Ponsonby Rd block as Murder Burger, about the rival company.

Darryl Parsons, another of Murder Burger’s directors, is sceptical of Burger Fuel’s claims that it was “just a coincidence”.

“We’re currently in a legal stoush, which is a bit unpleasant because we’re poor bastards and lawyers are bloody expensive.”

Mason says Burger Fuel is more concerned with the style and lettering of Murder Burger’s logo than its name. “It’s very similar to ours.”

He says his company has talked to Murder Burger about the similarities, but “we don’t seem to be getting anywhere” and are “considering our options”.

Murder Burger has employed an effective marketing campaign – its logo is a red-eyed cat and a job ad ruling out politics students and P addicts.

This unorthodox approach is no surprise in light of its founders’ backgrounds.

Parsons was behind vodka company 42Below’s edgy ads, and Blomfield is a former Hell Pizza franchisee and architect of many of the company’s controversial marketing campaigns.

When Hell was sold to the TPF Group – which owns Burger King – in 2006, Blomfield’s relationship with Hell soured and this year he closed his five Hell outlets, putting the Te Atatu Peninsula store on Trademe with a $1 reserve.

Murder Burger, says Blomfield, is based on the “disconnect” city folk have between animals and meat – he wants people to acknowledge that meat is, well, murder. But Blomfield says you won’t find any animal rights types here.

“The whole shop is pretty much a celebration of meat.”

Unlike Burger Fuel, whose several vege burgers are Vegetarian Society-approved, there are no vegetarian offerings on the menu.

Blomfield says the Murder Burger logo is also a symbol of the meat theme.

“The domestic cat is the perfect example of an urban predator.”

Review of Murder Burger