Restaurant’s Underwhelming Bluey Event Is Being Compared To The Willy Wonka Experience

Dirt Dog, a restaurant franchise with locations in California and Nevada, boasts Los Angeles-style street food and has multiple locations in Las Vegas alone. It also is known to host free community events, like an Egg Hunt and a Disney Day. It’s a sweet idea! But Dirt Dog underestimated the appeal of another popular dog on the scene: Bluey Heeler. On May 11, a Bluey Day at Dirt Dog was quickly overwhelmed by hundreds of families, many of whom left disappointed.

Fox5 Vegas reports that Dirt Dog was expecting a “few dozen” families to attend their Bluey event, which was to feature staff in costumes, face painting, Bluey episodes playing over screens throughout the restaurant, and sweet treats. When thousands RSVPed, they weren’t terribly concerned — Dirt Dog employee Taj Wilder told the outlet that, often, nobody attends many of the restaurants’ events despite RSVPs. (Whomst among us hasn’t clicked YES and forgotten about it 30 seconds later?)

But hundreds of families rolled up only to be greeted with a very homemade affair. Footage of the event shows an employee in commercially available Bandit pajamas, mobs of people crowded into the restaurant, and lines out the door to get in.

Wilder told Fox5 Vegas that staff do everything for these typically small community events — from costumes to baking cupcakes to face painting — which are popular with Dirt Dog regulars. But it seems families traveling especially for a Bluey Day expected more.

“What a waste of time smh never again!” wrote one disappointed customer on Dirt Dog’s Facebook page.

“Your establishment was not located near a lot of us moms. We DROVEEE,” wrote another. She continued, “My son was heartbroken & I already drove 45min. We love dirt dog ... but this time my friends you messed up. Bad Marketing, bad thinking, you really let my son down.”

Dirt Dog admits they underestimated the popularity of Bluey and that are “embarrassed and upset” by how the event turned out. They’ve posted an apology to their social media accounts, promising to do better in the future.

Some on social media have compared the incident to the infamous “Willy Wonka Experience” in Glasgow, which did not deliver on its AI-created promise. But unlike “Willy Wonka,” Dirt Dog’s Bluey Day does not appear to have promised anything that wasn’t delivered, even if the quality was not particularly high (though, honestly, those cupcakes looked delightful). Moreover, it did not charge for the event. And it seems that many have come to the restaurant’s defense, including some purporting to be patrons of the event.

“It wasn't the greatest, but in the end it was free, and to be fair my daughter still really enjoyed herself,” one wrote on Facebook.

“My son LOVED this event!” wrote another happy customer on Instagram. “Thank you for hosting! Sorry for all the Negative Nancy’s complaining about your free event! We appreciate your staff & all their efforts! We’ll definitely be back!”

Let this be a lesson to all: woe be to the company that doesn’t understand the power of Bluey.