A Willy Wonka-inspired experience ‘scam’ was so bad that people called the cops

People who attended a Willy Wonka-inspired “Chocolate Experience” in Glasgow, Scotland, were promised “extraordinary props, oversized lollipops, and a paradise of sweet treats” — all promoted with dreamlike, candy-colored images on its website.

When ticketholders arrived at the event over the weekend, they instead found a sparsely decorated warehouse with nothing resembling the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” franchise the event invoked in its advertising.

“It was just ridiculous. I mean, just very amateurish. Absolutely nothing like what was described,” said Alana Lockens, who paid £35 per ticket, or $44.40, to take her two young kids to the experience. “For the sake of my children, we were trying to be happy and smiley so that they wouldn’t pick up on the disappointment and just tried to make the best of a bad situation.”

Outraged attendees immediately began posting their experiences online, calling the event underwhelming and a “scam.” Some people quickly likened the event to the infamous Fyre Festival, a chaotic and pricey island concert that was falsely advertised as a “once-in-a-lifetime musical experience.”

By Saturday afternoon, the experience had been canceled and local police confirmed to NBC News that they were called to the scene after attendees who felt conned began demanding refunds. And further examination, along with interviews of people hired to work the event, hints that artificial intelligence-generated media may have played a key role in creating its veneer.