Who is Billy Coull? Man behind the 'Willy Wonka Experience' trolled online after photographs from the scam event go viral

On February 23, Glasgow's 'Willy Wonka Chocolate Experience' by Billy Coull had the worst opening day after furious parents called the cops for misleading the event with AI. The event was staged by Coull's House of Illuminati, in Glasgow, Scotland, with tickets priced at $44.

The event was advertised with the help of AI-generated images as a "place where chocolate dreams become reality" full of an enchanted garden, an "Imagination Lab" which promised "mind-expanding projections and optical marvels" and a "Twilight Tunnel."

A disclaimer at the bottom of the website page read:

"This experience is in no way related to the Wonka franchise, which is owned by the Warner Bros. company."

Billy Coull hastily closed down the event after disappointed parents took to call the police after waiting in a long line with their children. As per Rolling Stone, Coull seems to be the sole employee of House of Illuminati.

---

Who is Billy Coull?

The man behind the botched 'Willy Wonka Experience" is the director of the House of Illuminati, which claims to 'transform ordinary venues into immersive environments that transport guests into a realm of wonder.'

Apart from using AI for advertising, Coull has also published 17 Chat-GPT-written novels on Amazon in 2023, per Daily Mail.

His Amazon author page describes him as:

"Enigmatic wordsmith hailing from the bustling streets of Glasgow."

Billy Coull sells AI-written books on Amazon (Image via Billy Coull on Amazon)

After parents accused him of using dishonest marketing and took to social media to ask for a refund, Coull as per Daily Mail, said:

"We guarantee a full refund from Monday. We used artificial intelligence to create some images for the event."

As per the Companies House, along with the House of Illuminati, Coull is the director of two other companies - Billy De Savage and Nexuma Holdings, all registered to the same address in London and formed last year.

After the botched event, Coull's online profiles, including his LinkedIn profile and a YouTube channel where he claims to be a business guru and life coach, seemed to be taken down. His personal site has also been deleted and he is known to have fake academic degrees. Coull also claimed to be working for a brand called Empowerity, which is now reportedly extinct.

As per Rolling Stone, Coull, as of 2021, was co-directing a Glasgow foodbank, which he claimed to have fed thousands of families a month. The Foodbank is also nowhere to be found with a defunct online process.

Billy Coull's long trail of suspicious schemes with the use of AI leaves room for thought on how AI can be used as a business tool to increase sales.