The 2019 Oscars Swag Bags Include Pot-Laced Candy and $100,000 Worth of Other Goodies. See What’s Inside
Only a handful of people can win Oscars every year, but the night's most high-profile nominees get to take home a gift bag so luxurious it’s sure to soften the blow for anyone who doesn’t get to take home a coveted golden statue.
This year’s gift bag includes everything from cannabis-infused chocolates to international expeditions and color-changing lipstick. The bags are created by the Los-Angeles based marketing company Distinctive Assets, and Money's best estimate puts their cost at more than $100,000 worth of freebies and goodies. (Distinctive Assets is separate from the Academy, which does not sponsor these bags and has actively worked to distance itself from them.)
Companies pay a minimum of $3,000 to be included in the glitzy gift bags, Distinctive Assets tells Money, but the kind of brand recognition they can get from the exposure is pretty priceless. The six-figure gift bags are delivered to their recipients a week before the big night, but they are only given out to a handful of the nominees in the most visible Oscar categories: Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress and Best Director. Everyone from Lady Gaga, Melissa McCarthy and Glenn Close to Rami Malek, Mahershala Ali and Spike Lee will get to enjoy the pricey goodies.
Here are just some of the most lavish items included in the 2019 "Everyone Wins" Nominee Gift Bags and what they cost, according to the participating companies' websites. If you aren't an A-list actor, many of the treats come with a hefty price tag.
Coda Signature Cannabis-Infused Chocolates
If you don't walk away from the awards show with a winner's high, you can experience a different kind of lift from these Coda Signature cannabis-infused chocolates. ($18-$35) Chocolates aren't the only cannabis-related gift this year. Various other marijuana-themed products come inside the bag, including an annual membership to MOTA, a member's only "cannabis-friendly social club." ($2,000-$5,000)
International Expeditions
You and a guest can hop aboard a small luxury-ship and choose your own adventure to one of four places: Iceland, the Galapagos, the Amazon or Costa Rica and Panama. And you'll be able to recharge while you're adventuring. The package, offered by small-group adventure travel company International Expeditions, also includes spa treatments and cooking lessons with a private chef. ($15,000-$20,000)
10 Personal Training Sessions
Awards season requires getting in shape, and you can work out with celebrity trainer Alexis Seletzky, which costs $900 per session according to Business Insider. Seletzky did not respond immediately to a request for comment from Money.
Color Changing Lipstick
This lipstick created by Blush & Whimsy changes color based on your body's pH and the temperature of your skin. ($22-$28)
Love Is Stronger Than Hate
Celebs get a tote bag and a t-shirt this year from Love Is Stronger Than Hate, a brand that donates part of its proceeds to Stars for HOPE and the New York Says Thank You Foundation, two organizations which support schools and communities recovering from tragedies caused by by natural and human-caused disasters, using programming at the "intersection of mental health and art." ($22-$55)
Golden Door Wellness Retreat
A week at the exclusive and all-inclusive Golden Door Spa in California, where you can receive personalized treatments. Staying for a week can cost almost $10,000.
Rouge Maple
Nominees who don't win can still sweeten the pot with gifts from Rouge Maple, a company whose products are made from organic maple syrup. They make everything from maple syrup vinaigrettes and hard candies to organic maple butter. Maple Syrup may seem like an odd choice for awards show swag, but it could end up being a much more exclusive ingredient than you think. ($9-$50)
The bags include dozens of other products ranging from dog leashes, a subscription to the Wall Street Journal and lemonade-flavored moonshine. With swag like that, the bag's slogan "Everyone Wins" is exactly right.