Tickets to the Willy’s Chocolate Experience in Glasgow, Scotland, were marketed based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) images that sold parents on a magical experience, but when they showed up, it was anything but, according to reports.
Parents called the police on Saturday because they felt scammed by the "absolute shambles of an event," the New York Post reported. The AI-generated images included giant candy displays and colorful lights, but children were instead greeted by a virtually empty warehouse with a printed AI background, a disappointing bouncy castle and hardly any candy.
"Experience captivating live performances featuring charming characters singing original catchy tunes. Marvel at extraordinary props, oversized lollipops, and a paradise of sweet treats. This event guarantees an immersive and delightful entertainment experience suitable for aged 3+ years old," according to the event website.
Despite the promise of a "paradise of sweet treats," with advertising that claimed the space would have an "enchanted garden," "imagination lab," a "twilight tunnel" and "captivating entertainment," parents said they had waited over an hour with their children and were dismayed when they arrived at the barren warehouse, with many demanding a refund on their tickets, which cost $45 a person.
"In my eyes, I thought it was going to be some kind of light show with actors. I felt it was going to have sweets and they were taking about a chocolate river," mother Paula Graham told the Sun. "But it was a big warehouse with some props in it and some sheets."
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"The actual experience took two minutes to walk though because there was nothing there. When we arrived so many people had complained that they shut it down," she added. "You couldn't even call it an event - it was terrible."
"Underwhelming was an understatement. Embarrassing doesn’t even cut it. I paid for Willy Wonka and got Billy Bonkers," another angry mom wrote on Facebook."
The organizers of the event, House of Illuminati, canceled the event mid-way through its first day on Saturday and they are now reportedly offering refunds, the Scottish Sun reported.
House of Illuminati issued a statement describing it as "an event gone wrong" and said it would "NOT be holding any other event in the foreseeable future."
Willy Wonka (Getty Images)
"I understand that the cancellation of Willys Chocolate Experience something that was supposed to be an artist rendition of a well known novel has caused disappointment, frustration and anger and the money you spent," the group followed up in a later statement on Facebook. "The process of giving your money back has already started as a number of people can confirm."
"Some hurtful things have been said about people who where just helping out at the event, including personal attacks and sharing private information," the statement said. "Understandable you're upset, and you have all made that clear. Hurting people online is no way acceptable and urge you to stop. The intention was to create something special for you that didn't work out."
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Jenny Fogarty, who portrayed the "Wonkidoodle" at the event, which was the House of Illuminati's version of an Oompa Loompa, described the situation as "embarrassing," according to reporting by the Sun. Fogarty said she was given a 15-page "script" to learn the night before the event and was given the "sexy" version her costume about an hour before people started to arrive.
"I noticed that the costumes we were given - all of them were female, and we were given the sexy version as opposed to the traditional ones" she said. "Some people had T-shirts underneath to give it a bit more modesty. I just had a lacy shirt underneath."
"We were trying our best, all the actors, to make it work," she added. "But we were given just 12 hours to learn our script and told to just improvise. It's not easy to improvise a whole show." She said she and the other actors haven't been paid yet.
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