Review: Sweet Dreams at Factory International is ‘a vital and fascinating exploration of the fast food industry’

Sweet Dreams is a surrealist snack shock that you’ll want to nibble on before it leaves Factory International later this summer.

This brand-new immersive adventure invites you to step into the world of the Real Good Chicken Company, a creation of the award-winning artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast.

The experience masterfully blends animation, cinema, and interaction, crafting a journey as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

Sweet Dreams at Factory International

This wild experience mixes animation, cinema, and interaction to craft an experience that’s as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

As you progress through a series of themed rooms, other characters are introduced such as Boss (Reggie Watts), a sinister Gordon Gecko-looking office type with a roller-dex for his head, and Penny Peckish, a retired mascot from years gone by.

A Journey through the absurd

From the moment you enter the Real Good Chicken Company’s headquarters, you’re taken under the wing of has-been mascot Chicky Ricky, voiced by the talented comedian Munya Chawawa.

With the fast-food empire on the brink of collapse, you join Chicky Ricky on his quest to understand what people want.

This weird and wonderful journey through the food chain sees you becoming a worker in a cartoonish factory, a test subject in a research department, and much more as you traverse six distinct rooms charting the company’s glory days to its downfall.

The adventure begins with a visual presentation parodying branding, where seductive voices draw you into adverts, and the company’s jingle is presented like a national anthem. It’s as unnerving as it is inviting. You are fascinated and drawn into the adventure.

This clever parody sets the tone for a humorous and critical experience of modern food advertising techniques.

The showcase holds a mirror to our world, a served-up story where audiences are invited to deepen the connections with the food they eat – or do they even want to?

Do we not want to know the truth about what we consume?

A Museum of missteps

The next room serves as a museum of old adverts and fake awards, including gems like “The Last Straw Award 2023” for RGC’s commitment to never stop using plastic straws.

Here, a video presentation takes you through the company’s history, highlighting how corporations often exploit countercultural movements to their advantage.

The satirical edge sharpens as you move through a room filled with apologies for various corporate blunders and the harmful impacts of their products.

Sound familiar?

Sweet Dreams delves into the role of food mascots, exposing how their friendly faces often conceal more sinister intentions and employ emotional manipulation through cartoons.

Characters like Penny Peckish, the retired former mascot, voiced by Morgana Robinson, add both depth and pathos to the experience.

Penny Peckish, the starving orphan mascot with her mouth sewn shut, poignantly embodies the absurdity and cruelty of marketing tactics.

The portrayal raises unsettling questions: why do these manipulative strategies work, and why do they influence us so effectively?

The grim reality behind the curtain

One of the most striking sections is the workshop floor, where you peer into the grim realities of fast food production.

Flashing lights, undulating voices, and discombobulating sounds create an immersive and unsettling experience.

As you operate the big screen consoles, you’re reminded of the relentless marketing machinery behind every fast-food product.

The commentary on factory conditions and workers’ rights adds a sobering layer to the spectacle.

Workers are invited every twelve minutes to take a ‘scream break’, letting out their existential angst of being worked half to death for minimum wage, reflecting bleak factory conditions for workers who are often seen as ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

A farewell to Chicky Ricky

The experience culminates in the funeral of Chicky Ricky, with everyone giving out sachets of salt and Penny reading a poignant eulogy.

Boss proclaims that he’s lost his zest for advertising, and is now defunct.

You are invited to season Ricky has his coffin descends.

The audience is left to ponder why a chicken was advertising eating chicken and the inherent contradictions of the fast-food industry.

This surreal ceremony, complete with stained glass windows and a final rebranding or consignment to the “employee pit,” underscores the ephemeral nature of corporate mascots and the relentless push for profitability.

A multi-sensory reflection

The final rooms offer a beanbag sit down and exploration of the marketing department, which may just be the scariest place of them all. We are invited to peer into the murky world of advertising, where are desires are picked apart and targeted.

The interactive documentary elements, including a look at mukbang and the psychological manipulation of advertising, ask profound questions about our relationship with food.

Disconcerting flashing lights and synth arpeggios, assault the senses, and cataclysmic fragmented images assault our senses.

You’re bought quickly back to earth in the next ‘meditation room’  with a Himalayan salt crystal, inviting you to reflect on the entire journey.

An amazing production

You have to take your hat off to the team who produced this. It’s a visual knockout, an extravaganza and multi sensory attack that will keep you riveted from top to bottom.

There’s video, gaming, illustrations, buttons – some chaotic imagery that will long live in the memory (a cursed rotisserie chicken machine anyone?),

Heavy Satire from Simon Wroe – who explores the terror of corporate speak, both chilling and funny – playful and inviting – how we are lured to the catastrophic rocks by the sirens of advertising and marketing.

Sweet Dreams is a fascinating, critical exploration of the fast-food industry and its impact on society.

With stunning art direction by French artist mcbess and insightful writing by former chef Simon Wroe, this multi-sensory experience challenges visitors to reconsider their food choices and the marketing that shapes them.

It’s a dreamlike journey that stays with you long after you leave Aviva Studios.

It’s another incredible and innovative production from Factory International, who continue to push the envelope of what is possible.

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