PP1: Crisis Public Relations
What Went Wrong at the Willy Wonka Experience
In the age of social media, even small events can gain international attention when they fail to meet public expectations. In 2024, families in Scotland purchased tickets for what was advertised as a magical Willy Wonka–themed attraction, promising chocolate fountains, colorful sets, and performances. Instead, attendees arrived to a sparsely decorated warehouse with minimal props, hardly any candy, and actors reading AI-generated scripts. Within hours, disappointed parents began posting photos and complaints online, and the “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” quickly went viral as one of the year’s biggest event disasters. The fiasco not only sparked widespread ridicule on social media, but also created serious challenges for the organizers, who were forced to cancel the event, issue refunds, and respond to growing criticism. The incident highlights how misleading promotion and inadequate crisis management can damage reputations and erode public trust.
Created by a company called the House of Illuminati, the Willy's Chocolate Experience was held in Glasgow in February of 2024. For up to £35 a ticket, families expected an immersive experience inspired by Roald Dahl's classic story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Advertisements, many of them AI-generated, depicted lush candy landscapes, whimsical characters, and chocolate-themed fun.
When attendees arrived, however, the reality was starkly different. The event space was a drab warehouse with a few plastic props scattered across the floor. There were no chocolate fountains or candy-filled rooms. Instead, children were given a half-cup of lemonade and a few jelly beans. Actors were given scripts only the night before, leaving them to improvise awkwardly in front of children. Some children left in tears, while parents immediately took to social media to vent their frustration. Even the police were called on the event, highlighting the discontent that attendees felt with the experience (BBC).
The negative publicity surrounding the Willy Wonka Experience was fueled by several interconnected problems. The first and most obvious issue was the misleading nature of the marketing. Promotional materials, many of which were AI-generated, suggested a whimsical and colorful chocolate-themed adventure, yet the event bore no resemblance to these images. Families who had purchased tickets expecting an immersive fantasy world instead walked into a bare warehouse. A second problem was poor planning and lack of preparation by the organizers. Actors had received scripts only a day before the event and struggled to improvise their roles, leaving the performances lackluster and awkward. Finally, the combination of disappointed children and frustrated parents created an immediate backlash. Attendees began posting photos and reviews online within hours of the opening, and these quickly went viral. Once images of the warehouse spread on social media, the event became an international scandal.
Below are a few of the memes that went viral surrounding the event, from Daily Dot:
The organizers’ response to the backlash was inconsistent and reactive rather than strategic. Their first move was to cancel the event mid-day and issue a public apology, accompanied by a promise to refund ticket holders within ten days (The Guardian). This was a necessary step, but many families later reported delays in receiving refunds, which only compounded their frustration. The controversy was further intensified when actors who had been hired for the event went public with their complaints, stating that they had not been paid for their work and describing the lack of preparation behind the scenes. Instead of calming the crisis, these developments kept the story alive in news cycles and gave the impression that the organizers were unprepared to handle the situation responsibly.
The owner of the company responsible for the event, Billy Coull, issued a separate apology that claimed it was entirely his fault. People's magazine quotes Coull, stating:
"I understand the disappointment and frustration this has caused, and for that, I am truly sorry."
Apparently, though, this is not the first or the last time that Coull has been caught in a scandal. In 2022, he was under fire due to cancelling an event for the charity he was the director/chief executive of called Gowanbank Hub. In addition, he has multiple books for sale on Amazon that were entirely written by AI. In more recent times, he was arrested and put on the sex offenders register after harassing a woman (BBC). Taken together, Coull’s track record of failed ventures and personal controversies meant that when the Willy Wonka fiasco unfolded, the public was quick to question his credibility and treat the event as part of a larger pattern of misconduct.
From a public relations perspective, the Willy Wonka Experience demonstrates how quickly a crisis can spiral when an organization fails to manage expectations. The organizers relied almost entirely on reactive measures, offering apologies only after parents demanded accountability and canceling the event only after the backlash had already spread widely online. A more effective response would have required communication and transparency. For example, acknowledging the limitations of the event before it opened could have helped set more realistic expectations, while providing clear updates on refunds might have preserved some trust. Additionally, the company’s lack of a clear crisis plan meant that they ceded control of the narrative to angry customers and mocking media outlets. The result was a reputational disaster that might have been mitigated with better preparation and more open communication.
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