After the Willy Wonka Glasgow immersive experience was compared to a “meth lab”, the police were called, and punters were left furious – now there’s even a birthday card people can buy, which is currently going viral.
Willy Wonka Glasgow: to be seen to be believed
As BBC News reported:
Police were called to an event described as a “Willy Wonka Experience” in Glasgow as angry families demanded refunds.
The event was advertised as a “journey filled with wondrous creations and enchanting surprises at every turn”.
But one visitor told BBC Scotland News that it was little more than “an abandoned, empty warehouse”.
It was cancelled by organisers House of Illuminati mid-way through Saturday following complaints from parents.
They have said full refunds will be given to everyone who bought tickets, reported to have cost up to £35.
If you haven’t seen the full-scale horror that was the Willy Wonka Glasgow experience, then we’d be forgiven for wondering where you’d been:
Charlie would not want to inherit this Factory from Willy Wonka pic.twitter.com/ge0LNuYts6
— James Rik Lennox 🇮🇱 🎗️ (@FilmRik) February 28, 2024
One of the attractions at the failed Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow. pic.twitter.com/yLyj6TpeFG
— Complex Pop Culture (@ComplexPop) February 28, 2024
Willy Wonka’s Glaswegian Meth Lab™️ pic.twitter.com/hz2xTzrcJk
— Robin Wigglesworth (@RobinWigg) February 28, 2024
On X, people were pointing out that the Willy Wonka Glasgow experience was essentially a scam. Organisers used AI technology to create the website and ad campaign – which led people to believe the event was going to be spectacular:
apparently this was sold as a live Willy Wonka Experience but they used all AI images on the website to sell tickets and then people showed up and saw this and it got so bad people called the cops lmao pic.twitter.com/tfkyg0G0WG
— Chris Alsikkan ‘24 (@AlsikkanTV) February 26, 2024
However, it was quite obvious from the website that something wasn’t quite right:
Not removing the blame on the event company for the £35 Willy Wonka experience but this was literally the advert on the site you saw before choosing to book pic.twitter.com/fTILnlFVcl
— Ｄｅａｎｙ (@thedeanytheory) February 27, 2024
There are political points to be made amid the chaos, too:
Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory after privatisation… pic.twitter.com/hxALdEI6J2
— Nick J. Brown (@NorthernMailman) February 28, 2024
Of course – and somewhat predictably – the failed event is already being hailed as one of the moments of 2024:
This photo from the Willy wonka experience is single handedly the photo of the year. I know it’s only February but close the vote there’s no topping this. Please find this woman she needs to be interviewed ASAP pic.twitter.com/97wsodLLpQ
— 🇱🇹 (@agneponx) February 27, 2024
And, as if by magic, you can now buy Willy Wonka disaster-themed merch marking the real-world dramedy.
A birthday card? Yes, it exists already.
thortful is an online greetings card marketplace, providing a platform for independent creatives to sell their designs from all over the globe. thortful pay their creators an industry-leading royalty rate each time one of their card designs are sold, as well as handling all production and customer queries, providing a quick and easy service for both customers and sellers.
Now, it’s platforming a birthday card inspired by the Willy Wonka Glasgow disastrous event.
The card from thortful reads “For your birthday I thought I’d treat you to a ticket to The Wonka Experience,” with an image of the event that went completely wrong.
A spokesperson from thortful commented on the new card:
We feel sorry for the people that were looking forward to an exciting day out, so we wanted to create something for people to see the funny side of it.
The Willy Wonka Glasgow card is available to buy here.
Featured image via thortful
