John Oliver Compares Elon Musk’s DOGE to Viral Willy Wonka Experience

On Sunday’s (February 23) episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver discussed Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), comparing it to the U.K.’s disastrous Willy Wonka immersive experience that went viral last year.

The late-night host started by pointing out how Musk mistakenly claimed that DOGE’s slashing of federal spending has resulted in $55 billion in estimated savings. Reporters, including NPR, soon found these numbers to be inflated, with the actual amount closer to $2 billion, which, as Oliver said, was “a lot of numbers away” from Musk’s claim.

“In fact, there hasn’t been such a stark disconnect between marketing and reality since it turned out the Glasgow Wonka Experience was actually this,” he added, showing an image of the sad-looking woman dressed as an Oompa-Loompa in a green wig at the ill-fated Scotland-based Wonka experience.

“Right now, we are all her,” Oliver quipped.

The Wonka Experience was an unlicensed event based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that took place in Glasgow, Scotland, in February 2024. While it was promoted as an immersive and interactive family experience, the event was found to be nothing more than a sparsely decorated warehouse. After customers shared videos from the poorly organized event, it went viral around the world.

1 year ago today, the infamous ‘Willy Wonka Chocolate Experience’ took place. pic.twitter.com/GyHE3DxICg

— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 24, 2025

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The comedian also slammed Musk’s chainsaw stunt at CPAC, where the tech billionaire took to the stage swinging the power tool above his head like he was Eminem in concert circa 2000. “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” Musk shouted as the crowd cheered him on.

“I’m not legally allowed to say what I want to happen there, but I can and am thinking it really hard right now,” Oliver joked. “But a chainsaw might actually be a pretty apt metaphor for DOGE given that Musk’s cutting hastily and without a lot of precision.”

He continued, “The government’s repeatedly had to scramble to hire employees they suddenly realized were essential. On Monday, we learned they were trying to hire more than 300 employees tasked with managing America’s nuclear weapons. Then on Tuesday, the USDA said it accidentally fired employees who are working on the federal government’s response to the avian flu outbreak.”