Bluey fans were left sorely disappointed after an event claiming to offer them a chance to meet the beloved character turned out to be a total disaster.
The Australian animated kids series has been a massive hit since it first hit screens in 2018.
Trying to capitalise on its popularity, last weekend the Dirt Dog hot dog restaurant in Las Vegas hosted a Bluey Day, promising attendees a marathon of episodes, a meet and greet, face painting and special themed treats.
However, when people arrived, their expectations were quickly tempered when discovering what was actually on offer.
After 3,000 people responded to the event, families flocked to the venue, which is where the problems began.
Concerns were quickly raised on social media about capacity and crowd control, but once people finally got inside, they were met with amateur costumes, homemade treats and face painting from a restaurant staff member.
‘I was mad. He looked unexpected,’ Sophia, a child who attended the event, said.
‘We could see his beard,’ she explained about the unimpressive Bluey impersonator, who was a man dressed in a disappointing onesie.
‘The kids were distraught. Some kids were crying. Some kids were upset, crying in their parents’ shoulders,’ her mother Stephanie Hernandez also told Fox 5 News Las Vegas.
‘How could you do that to little kids: advertise something so fun and eventful for kids ranging from toddlers to six, seven years old, and not actually follow through with it?
‘It was a very upsetting moment to see so many kids, especially my daughter, just really upset.’
Other enraged parents shared their thoughts of the event on social media.
‘When you order your Bluey event from Wish,’ Tracy said of what she saw.
‘Thanks for ruining my 3-year-olds day!’ Kevin posted on the event page.
As Wendy explained: ‘If you’re advertising with Bluey you gotta go big, otherwise go home!’
After the backlash, Dirt Dog management told the news channel the event began with good intentions.
‘We expected like maybe 50 to 60 people–not in the sense of like the whole city coming out. Just now knowing who Bluey is, we would have planned ahead and would have had security,’ employee Taj Wilder said.
She then apologised to those left disappointed.
‘We’re very much family. We love on each other, we support each other. We’re going to continue to make events, create events, especially free ones, for families to come out and have a good time with us,’ she said.
The event has echoes of the infamous Willy Wonka-themed ‘Chocolate Experience’ that was held in Glasgow earlier this year.
When families arrived, they were greeted a sparsely decorated warehouse with some plastic props, a small bouncy castle and some backdrops pinned against the walls, as well as a terrifying character called The Unknown that made some kids cry in fear.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Dirt Dog Las Vegas for comment.
Bluey is streaming on Disney Plus.
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