Everyone’s a winner at the Oscars

By Efrosini Costa

REUTERS
REUTERS
While the nominees wait with bated breath to hear their name called to the podium on Hollywood’s night of nights, those who don’t win a coveted gold statuette won’t go home empty-handed.

Thanks to Los Angeles marketing company Distinctive Assets, all of Sunday night’s Academy Award nominees will receive a goodie bag valued at more than $45,000, according to a statement released by the company yesterday.

The now annual “Everyone Wins at the Oscars Nominee Gift Bag”, while not endorsed by the Academy, has reportedly been brining joy to those who fail to win at the awards for more than a decade.

So what can one expect to find in the goodie bags?

Among the items included are a trip to Australia, Hawaii and Mexico, a bottle of tequila, condoms, hand-illustrated tennis shoes, personal training sessions, portion controlled dinnerware (for those watching their weight) and even appointments for injectable fillers, just to name a few.

The bags are delivered directly to the nominee’s homes or via their agents and publicists. The Academy, which used to hand out baskets to presenters and performers of the night, stopped its gift-giving five years ago – after coming under scrutiny from the US tax authorities.

Celebrities are expected to declare the freebies as part of their income and pay the appropriate taxes.

Other items up for grabs vary from the expensive to the plain bizarre; from under-the-counter water filtration systems, to acupuncture and aromatherapy sessions, a one-week stay at a fitness and weight-loss retreat, to a one-year membership at London’s Heathrow Airport private VIP service.

We’re sure they will be of great consolation to awards night losers and their children (they get to enrol in professional all-kid circus classes!).

The Academy Awards are regarded as the highest honours in film. This year’s ceremony will take place this Sunday in Hollywood.

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