This year's Oscars swag bags are replete with luxury skincare products, film-inspired merchandise and five-star vacations. Yet, the impact of the wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles earlier this year can also be seen this time in them, as among the luxury items, there is also a one-year membership to Bright Harbor, a disaster recovery service that helps survivors navigate what happens next. And since it's a stressful time for Hollywood, the bag also contains cannabis, reports Hindustan Times.
Apart from the personal membership, each nominee will receive 10 further memberships "that they can gift freely to friends, family, neighbors, even fans who might have lost their home in the LA fire," said Lash Fary, founder of Distinctive Assets, the company behind the gift bags.
The Oscar gift bags are given to some of the major nominees each year at the Academy Awards. For the 23rd year in a row, the Los Angeles-based entertainment marketing company will deliver its "Everyone Wins" Nominee Gift Bags, worth over $217,000 each, to 25 top acting and directing nominees. The gifts are curated independently of the Academy that organizes Sunday night's Oscars.
Other highlights of this year's bags include a private in-home show from a local magician, a DNA kit that comes with a deep dive into the nominee's history with a genealogist, and a coat for a pet dog recycled from designer clothing.
Interestingly, the kits also contain cannabis products such as pre-rolls and THC-infused drinks. "This is California and this is a stressful week for a lot of these folks. So we've got four different cannabis options for them," added Fary, pointing to rose gold vape pens, gummies, pre-rolls and THC-infused margaritas.
Who gets the gift bags?
The majority of the nominees will inevitably miss out on the coveted Oscar statue but they can console themselves by choosing between vacations at a Maldives villa, a Sri Lankan wellness resort, or a five-star Barcelona hotel.
As well as brightening the day of the A-listers, the bags also serve as a platform to promote small businesses, minority-owned brands and companies that give back to the community, Distinctive Assets says.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
