A Las Vegas restaurant has been forced to apologise after a Bluey-themed event it hosted left parents fuming and children in tears.
Dirt Dog, a popular restaurant chain across Las Vegas, put on the free event on May 11 promising face painting, games, sweet treats and the chance to meet the much-loved blue heeler and her pals.
The Australian children's cartoon has become an unprecedented success in the United States, becoming the most-streamed show across all viewing platforms in 2023.
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Almost 3,000 people responded to Dirt Dog's Facebook event, but when customers who had queued down the street arrived they were greeted by a Bluey character that one customer described as "a guy in a onesie".
According to disappointed attendees, the face painting was being done inexpertly by a staff member and the treats ran out before all the children even made it inside.
There were also complaints that the venue was dirty and the "Bluey" character was inattentive to the awaiting children.
"Temu Bluey costume and decorations from Dollar Tree featured at Dirt Dog Las Vegas Rainbow! Thanks for ruining my 3-year-olds day!" one fuming customer wrote on the Facebook event.
"The face painting was worse than MacKenzie's Mum!" another disappointed attendee complained.
"I get it needed to be quick designs, but whiskers and a paw print? The promised "treats" were cupcakes you needed to pay for. We saw no games and no activities."
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FDirtDogLV%2Fposts%2Fpfbid03d3vtjxMgFnafmk8eQy5NUjcM6NiWK44GFjoqKWzJTMyucPjzrmbuGExJ7Ca5ccEl&show_text=true&width=500&is_preview=trueA marketing spokesperson for Dirt Dog, Taj Wilder told local TV station FOX5 they were only expecting "50 to 60 people" despite 3,000 people responding to the Facebook page.
Following the online backlash, Dirt Dog issued an apology on their Instagram and Facebook pages.
"We are truly sorry this event wasn't the expected experience," Dirt Dog wrote in a message posted to Instagram and Facebook.
"We were overwhelmed with the turnout to this event. We will continue to improve on our events so we can ensure nothing like this will happen in the future."
The outcry comes months after a Willy Wonka experience in Scotland where parents were so outraged the police were called.
