The economy that drives the Oscars is immense. The film buff event of the year held in Hollywood has a million-dollar cost, but it also advertising revenue is abysmal. To give you an idea: the cost of this year’s gala is around 53.3 million euros. Only the red carpet through which all the stars parade, of more than 46,000 square meters, has a cost of just over 23,100 euros. Even each 24-carat gold-plated statuette costs about 375 euros.
But the ceremony is also a gold mine for its organizers. And even for the city of Los Angeles, which injects into its coffers about 153 million euros for tourism. In addition, the event leaves around 109 million euros in advertising revenue alone.
With so much money moving here and there, the time has come to bring up the mythical goodie bags that the nominees receive at the event. For those of you who don’t know, every year, the marketing company Distinctive Assets delivers a selection of items, coupons and products in a pack called “everyone wins”. It’s called that because even if you don’t take home an Oscar, you take home these gifts.
The 2023 edition of the bag, which is not affiliated with the Academy Awards, is valued at approximately 123,000 euros, according to information compiled by CNBC and includes more than 60 items ranging from a €16 pack of chocolate-covered pretzels to three nights at a luxury Canadian property. Of course, you have to declare taxes on all this.
Lash Fary, founder of Distinctive Assets, tells in this article that once the nominees are announced, the process of delivering the bags begins. In the weeks leading up to the Oscars, the Distinctive Assets team contacts representatives of the nominees to see if they are interested in receiving them and to plan logistics. In some cases, the team needs to find out not only what hotel they’re staying at, but also what alias their room is listed under. And all the products usually go in two full suitcases.
What includes?
This year’s most valuable experience is a three-night stay valued at €40,000 at the luxury property The Lifestyle in Ottawa, in Canada. Nominees will be able to stay in all-inclusive accommodation and enjoy a fully stocked fridge with groceries gourmeta home theater room and the chance to drive a 1965 Shelby AC Cobra 427 Roadster and a 2023 McLaren.
The bags also include dozens of other experiences and coupons: three nights at the Punta Imperatore Lighthouse in Ischia, Italy for the candidate and up to 7 friends, a one square meter piece of land in Australia through the Pieces of Australia conservation project, a €12,000 arm liposuction procedure, a €7,000 private hair restoration consultation with leading surgeon Dr. Alan J. Bauman and up to €10,000 worth of procedures by Dr. Konstantin Vasyukevich, including chemical peels, laser skin resurfacing and Botox.
On the other hand, it contains some 60 luxury wellness items, such as a NaturGeeks functional wellness “immunity booster”, a C60 Purple Power edible massage oil (part of the Sexy range), a Shinery Radiance Wash hand soap , which appears on Oprah’s list of favorite things, silk pillowcases and even fertility supplements.
And you can not miss the food products, ranging from popcorn, luxury chocolate or hand-picked organic dates to shokupan, a popular Japanese milk bread, and alcohol, including wine and tequila.
Who gets it and why?
This year who will receive said loot are the 26 nominees to the categories of “Best Director”, “Best Actor”, “Best Actress”, “Best Supporting Actor” and “Best Supporting Actress”, as well as the presenter: Jimmy Kimmel, Martin McDonagh, Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, Steven Spielberg, Todd Field, Ruben Östlund, Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, Paul Mescal, Bill Nighy, Cate Blanchett, Ana De Armas, Andrea Riseborough, Michelle Williams, Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Gleeson, Brian Tyree Henry, Judd Hirsch, Barry Keoghan, Key Huy Quan, Angela Bassett, Hong Chau, Kerry Condon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu.
These bags made by the marketing company Distinctive Assets They have been delivering since 1999 in different events such as the Grammy Awards and BET Awards. According to Lash Fary, the company’s founder: “While this gift bag is impressive value, that’s not our goal. These nominees are uniquely positioned to greatly help participating brands simply by wearing, wearing, and talking about these products. Marketing and advertising can and should coexist with the ever present global bad news report. This is not frivolity, this is basic economics.”
Image: Distinctive Assets
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