(the original intent of the blog)
From Forbes, February 1:
Inside The $225,000 Oscars 2020 Gift Bag: From An Antarctic Cruise To A Gold Vape Pen To A Smart Bra
On February 9, 2020, the Oscars will be awarded at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, and even the losers will go home with lavish consolation prizes. While just four actors and one director will bring home the gold in the top individual categories, all 24 nominees still get a six-figure gift bag courtesy of Distinctive Assets, a celebrity and product-placement marketing company.....MUCH MORE
This year’s Oscars swag is valued at $225,000, up nearly $80,000 from last year’s haul. In terms of pure value, the 24-karat-gold-plated statuette, the most-coveted honor in Hollywood, costs just $400 to make. The value of all 24 bags is $5.4 million, narrowly beating the domestic box office haul of The Goldfinch, which laid a great big egg last year.
Though Distinctive Assets is not affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the Oscars, its lavish gift bags are an award-season tradition. (In 2016, the Academy sued Distinctive Assets for trademark infringement, but they have since reached a nonmonetary settlement.)
All 25 nominees in the acting and directing categories typically get bags, but there is one fewer this year as Scarlett Johansson is nominated in both leading and supporting actress categories, for Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit, respectively. She will only receive one bag. “Maybe I’ll reach out to see if [Johansson] wants to donate the second one,” says Distinctive Assets founder Lash Fary....
