Anything that isn't run by a major museum or gallery is highly suspect in my book. I recall a Tutankhamun show that I think had National Geographic's name slapped on it, somewhere in London Docklands, that was fairly lame, but nothing compared to the lameness of a Tutankhamun show going on in Hamburg right now which is mostly words printed on posters, with the main event being a large empty room with projections on all the walls. Barely amusing and mainly a good chance for a sit-down.
Similarly, there's a fake-o Body Worlds show going on, a bullshit Terracotta Army show on, and there's clearly money to be made.
The one experience I can remember that blew everything out of the water was the Millennium Dome in London, circa 2000, simply amazing and mind-blowing. I went twice. Truly amazing experiences like these cost a fortune and take a age, and require top-tier talent to put on. Just like a West End theatre production.
BTW: good/known scenes have a license to play, not just perform, music live, so even that would be weird.
The musical acts that surprised us as we were walking between zones, the huge scale of the artworks and sculptures that we actually had to walk through, it was an absolute delight from start to finish. I had been given two tickets as a gift from a friend, and I took a mate who I didn't know super well, we had zero expectations and that day definitely helped turn us into very close friends - I was his best man a few years later. I then bought tickets and took my girlfriend, who was left speechless by it all (she was a trained actor) who then bought her own tickets and took her entire family there.
The dome suffered from the worst PR ever, and it was a national joke but only for people who hadn't read the book, so to say, people queuing up to criticise something in copycat fashion, but the joke was on them, it was amazing.
The budget for the show was there for a year and I'm sure it underperformed but I'm also sure it provided a seed for the success of things like the 2012 Olympics, which was simply amazing. It was empty for a while, and Crisis used it as a homeless shelter in 2003 I think, I was volunteering as a chef and we were in an annex outside the main building, catering for people with dependency problems, while my then-girlfriend was cooking at the main kitchen inside the actual dome. I took my skates and skated around the whole empty-ish structure, was very cool.
I know I was astounded by some of the techniques they used and the expertise and craft with which they were made all the way back when.
Some examples: https://retrovolve.com/the-strange-and-wonderful-world-of-at...
Look up the gameplay videos of any of those, and you may experience a similar feeling.
Admittedly, there was a general assumption that the box art (or even trailers) need not reflect the gameplay at all (and it was still a time when sufficiently high resolution graphics would be assumed to not be part of the actual game since it would be impossible), so there wasn't exactly much deception going on. But it could certainly still be disappointing if you're a child who doesn't quite know that. It's worth mentioning as well that the back of the box usually had some screengrabs to give an idea.
"The use of AI, both in marketing imagery and writing, appears to be a recurring theme of Billy Coull's recent business endeavours."
I don't think the fraudster is in any way more impressive than more traditional scams like the Nigerian prince.
Fyre Festival as a Service
Now ! Improved with AI !
Removed age restrictions to extend to a more gullible market, sorry not intended for there to be any chocolate for the children.
Some people just can't make money unless "it's going to be as easy as taking candy from a baby".
Or the technology-enhanced equivalent.
That’s why that’s the angle the news channels take with it.
The people who bought tickets weren't gullible or stupid, any more than you would be buying a ticket to a festival with your favourite bands only to rock up and find there are no bands. #fyrefestival
Look at the marketing material on their website and ask yourself who wouldn't be suspicious upon seeing multiple nonsensical words:
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/764/707/40b
Also we're extremely gullible and will throw good money at anything, so why would a business person put any effort in?
And I'm not even particularly a fan of Harry Potter.
I guess the only problem is that they charged 2 or 3 tumes as much as people think it is worth.
If you live in a high cost of living area though, you have to pay marked price for scrappy things though. People can't have their cake and eat it too, where other people should work for pennies.
This is the most disgusting thing I've read all week.
