Poundland-level decor, staff in sports jerseys, people having to sit on the floor … might this disastrous Detroit event be the new Willy Wonka Experience?

You would have thought, given the sheer velocity at which Glasgow’s dismal Willy Wonka experience travelled around the world, that people would have wised up. You would have thought that, upon seeing an expensive and unofficial “fan experience” pop up near your home, everyone would give it a wide berth. You would have thought that, as terrible as the Wonka fiasco was, the sole plus side would be the instant death of that entire industry.

And yet last Sunday, a venue in Michigan, US put on an evening called The Detroit Bridgerton Themed Ball, and charged ticket-holders between $150 and $1,000 (£115-£750) to attend. The people who went ended up sitting on the floor, eating KitKats and forlornly watching the evening’s entertainment, which consisted of a solitary pole dancer working the middle of the room. Truly, humanity is cursed by its innate failure to learn from its past mistakes.

Continue reading...