Straight from the Roald Dahl Book of Wonders, Willy Wonka is a tale about a magical chocolate factory full of bursting colors, descriptive pieces about childhood wonder, and magic. The story, a staple for tons of children, has quickly gone sour for the families of many in Glasgow, Scotland, as they attended what was called, Willy’s Chocolate Experience.
The story, which has taken off online, surrounds an “immersive experience” that was advertised online through AI-generated images and quite questionable descriptions of a $44 event for children, themed around Willy Wonka. The event was advertised with chocolate fountains, dreamy rainbows, and even the famous Oompa Loompas, the event seemed like a perfect way to spend time with your kids. However, that was far from the reality of the situation.
Instead, children and parents arrived at a warehouse the day of, only to discover that they were anywhere but a magical, fun-filled factory. It was a rather empty warehouse with lackluster tarps with “Willy Wonka” imagery on them, as well as some random lollipops and candy canes scattered around. It was a rather less than stellar experience, with some ticket holders even feeling compelled to call the police with how much of a frightening scam it had turned out to be.
Instead of fountains of chocolate and activities galore, the experience barely had food — each kid got a jelly bean and the option to play in a bouncy house if they wished. Aside from that, those who chose to bring their kids on a guided tour of the Willy’s Chocolate Experience were sorely disappointed, as they were instead met with a walk around the warehouse with slightly creepy imagery and a creepy character introduced to scare kids, called the Unknown.
The event was such a shame that even the actors themselves barely knew what they were doing at the experience. The actors arrived on the scene with the same expectation that the parents and children did: expecting a wonderland of rainbows and sunshine. Instead, they were immediately handed a script full of similarly AI-generated nonsense and told to get into character. Many of them, such as Ms. Fogarty — who was told to play an Oompa Loompa, were given cheap wigs and costumes and told to entertain the children.
In an effort to remedy the situation, the actor who played Willy Wonka had pulled all the other actors together before they began and had described that from what he had gathered, they would most likely not even be paid.
Many actors described that what shortly ensued as they began to work, was many angry parents and children forming groups to shout and complain. Ultimately, the event ended up getting shut down and the police were told to look into the company behind it, House of Illuminati.
While many are still stunned by the so-called sweet-treat event turned sour, others see it as a chance to explore how these events in the future need to have more transparency, and how the mistreatment of the actors by the House of Illuminati should be explored further.