Take a Peek Inside the Famously Expensive Gift Bags Oscar Nominees Receive
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Oscars season is filled with secondhand pleasures—the vicarious thrill when a favorite film or performer receives Hollywood's most coveted award, the schadenfreude delight of debating questionable red carpet fashion choices. One among those, over the years, has become the voyeuristic intrigue of the famous/infamous "Everyone Wins" gift bags that the brand Distinctive Assets hands out to award nominees. Packed with thousands, and indeed, hundreds of thousands, of dollars worth of products and experiences (Forbes estimated that the 2021 bags valued around $205,000) the bags—which have no official affiliation with the awards or the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences—have become a kind of reveal of their own for awards season watchers.
The practice of handing out a gift bag to Academy Award nominees and presenters goes back as far as 1989, according to Vulture, though at that time both the value and size of the bags was smaller (the so-called "bags" are now often reportedly suitcases or trunks) and they were an official gift from the Academy. After a 2006 crackdown by the IRS, which viewed the increasingly popular and valuable bags as a form of non-cash compensation, the Academy stepped back from the practice. However, the lack of official affiliation—or the tax requirements—hasn't curtailed the bags's popularity in subsequent years, or stopped brands from paying a hefty price for the privilege of appearing in them. According to a 2013 CPA Practice Advisor report, Distinctive Assets charged companies a minimum of $4,000, and up to $20,000, for the opportunity to donate items like cannabis-infused chocolates, luxury vacations, and even medical procedures.
"While this gift bag does, as always, have an impressive value, that is neither our focus nor goal. A great gift has nothing to do with a price tag," Distinctive Assets founder Lash Fary said in a statement. "This year’s nominee package is particularly meaningful as we pay tribute to a milestone anniversary and also celebrate the resilience of all involved after the challenges of the past two years. Despite perpetual bad news globally, it’s also an important form of self preservation and self-care to carve out a little room for the fun, festive, and fabulous."
So what, exactly, can the acting and directing nominees who choose to receive the bags (celebrities can also, of course, turn the gifts down) expect to find inside this year's 20th anniversary "Everyone Wins" bag?
Among a slew of products and experiences, the recipients will receive plots of land in Scotland (making the owners Lords and Ladies of Glencoe) from Highland Titles, gold-infused extra virgin olive oil from Ariti, access to a Celebrity Arms™ Sculpting plastic surgery procedure by Art Lipo, Exploding Kittens’s trio of games, a four-night stay for two at the Golden Door luxury spa, Opopop's signature flavor-wrapped popcorn kernels, anti-aging supplements from spermidineLIFE by Longevity Labs, an all-inclusive stay at Turin Castle in Scotland, Elixinol sleep gummies, complimentary project management for their next renovation or construction project by Maison Construction, Tangle Teezer’s The Ultimate Detangler hairbrush, and a spiritual connection coaching session from Self Love with Nicola.
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