A Willy Wonka-style 'Chocolate Experience' advertised with AI images turned out to be an 'absolute shambles'
Stuart Sinclair
- Police were called to a disastrous Willy Wonka-style event after families were left underwhelmed.
- Customers criticized the event for failing to deliver its advertised features.
- The organizers apologized and promised full refunds to ticket holders.
A "Willy's Chocolate Experience" last weekend turned out to be a whole lot less satisfying than people had hoped.
The event was staged by the House of Illuminati in Glasgow, Scotland. It was advertised as a "place where chocolate dreams become reality" with an enchanted garden, an "Imagination Lab" that promised "mind-expanding projections and optical marvels," and a "Twilight Tunnel."
A disclaimer at the very end of its website notes: "This experience is in no way related to the Wonka franchise, which is owned by the Warner Bros. company."
People quickly realized it was far from what organizers had promised.
Stuart Sinclair, who took his children to the event, called it an "absolute shambles."
In a Facebook post, Sinclair said the event had been described as a "great day out for the kids," but shortly after arriving, he noticed a queue of people waiting to complain.
Police were even called, and "advice was given," a Police Scotland representative said, Sky News reported.
X users speculated that the images used online by the organizers were generated by artificial intelligence. Several of the images featured on the website have tell-tale signs of AI art, but Business Insider was unable to independently confirm if the images were generated with AI.
House of Illuminati did not immediately respond to a request regarding the use of AI in marketing photos.
Sinclair said the company was "nothing more than an absolute con" in his Facebook post.
After being promised chocolate fountains, Sinclair said his kids received two jelly babies and a small drink. He added the tickets for the disastrous event cost him £35 (about $44) per person.
Stuart Sinclair
House of Illuminati said in a Facebook post on Saturday night: "Today has been a very stressful and frustrating day for many and for that we are truly sorry.
"Unfortunately, last minute we were let down in many areas of our event and tried our best to continue on and push through and now realise we probably should have canceled first thing this morning instead.
"We fully apologize for what has happened and will be giving full refunds to each and every person that purchased tickets."