Point of Personal Privilege: Willy Wonka was a scammer and his contest was rigged

 

The "five lucky children" thing was actually "one winner and four additional children who come along for the ride."  Charlie Bucket was always going to win the contest, and the factory, because for whatever reason, he was picked out by Wonka to win from the very beginning.

Think about it:

Slugworth- who is revealed to be an agent of Wonka's- is right there on the scene almost the moment every "lucky" child finds a golden ticket.  We don't see him whispering into the ear of the person who manufactured the fake ticket- because Wonka KNEW that ticket was fake without looking at it.  How did Slugworth get to the children so quickly?  He intercepts Charlie literally SECONDS after Charlie finds his ticket- HOW?  Obviously, the location of each ticket was carefully tracked by the Wonka Corporation, probably through some Global Positioning System created by one of the smarter minions enslaved within that factory.

When Charlie goes back to the candy shop for a second candy bar, the proprietor picks out the chocolate bar for him- "Why not try a regular Wonka bar this time?"  Why would he do this, unless he knew he was giving Charlie a bar with a golden ticket in it?  He was probably irritated that Charlie didn't pick the right flavor the first time, and that Charlie only bought ONE candy bar despite "finding" a dollar right outside the shop.  Obviously this guy was an agent of Wonka's.  

At the factory, all of the kids break the rules, including Charlie.  All of the kids pay a heavy price, except Charlie.  Charlie and his father steal fizzy lifting drinks and only avoid being chopped to pieces by a ceiling fan by accidentally realizing that burping will allow them to return to the floor.  All of the other kids are removed from the contest for violating the rules, but Charlie gets to skate- why?  Wonka knows he and his grandfather stole fizzy lifting drinks- Wonka loudly admonishes them for it later- but because Charlie returns the Everlasting Gobstopper that He Also Stole,  all is forgiven?  

What are the odds that a kid who lives within a few blocks of the factory would find a golden ticket?  Come on.

What are the odds that all of the other "winners" (pawns) would find ways to eliminate themselves from the tour?  In real life, absolutely nothing strange would happen during a tour of a chocolate factory- left with five kids, how was Wonka going to eliminate the four not named Charlie Bucket?  Probably through the use of that contract he had them sign without reading.