As students grow older and set their sights on their future professions, teachers are encouraged to make sure these students understand that no profession is free of challenges. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is a great tool in teaching this to children, in addition to being a wonderful read. Willy Wonka must have faced numerous amounts of challenges to keep his factory afloat, both operationally and financially, even if the Oompa Loompas were a ‘huge’ help.
The infographic below can serve as a resource alongside the novel and movie adaptation. In it, teachers will find the estimated yearly values for keeping the magic pumping in and out of the factory.
Speaking of pumping, one of the main attractions of the tour, the chocolate river, is estimated to require 150,000 gallons of chocolate to fill and keep flow consistent. Which, according to the price of chocolate today, would cost $32.7 million dollars. Students might even wince at the thought of having this high of an overhead cost in any of their prospective professions in the future. This is equally true of the cost of maintaining a happy and healthy workforce in Mr. Wonka’s Oompa Loompas. Their dancing and diligence are unmatched, but they don’t come cheap. Referencing the average salaries of employees in the chocolate industry, around $50k a year, in addition to healthcare, Mr. Wonka’s workforce comes out to about $81 million dollars a year. These are important aspects of the backbone of businesses that students must understand in order to perhaps one day start their own.
Those were only the financial implications of Willy Wonka’s factory. It goes without saying that in order to maintain a productive output of his products he had to overcome a number of operational challenges. Teachers should encourage their students to think outside of the box, similarly to Wonka, to solve some of these issues. When you’re dealing with Oompa Loompas, golden goose eggs, and wallpaper that you’re encouraged to lick, anything goes. Not to say it’ll be like this in all the professions students decide on, but it’s a good reminder for teachers to incorporate different lessons through some potentially unorthodox methods like Wonka.
Author bio: The Advanced Technology Services Marketing Department is an innovative, collaborative, results-driven team focused on driving the business forward. The department consists of four pillars: Business Intelligence, Product Management, Demand Generation, and Marketing Communications in which team members work cross-functionally to increase brand awareness and drive demand for continuous bottom-line growth.
