This year’s Oscars gift bags reportedly cost $180,000 apiece and include multiple luxury holidays

The famously expensive swag bags are always extravagant, but this year’s offering takes the biscuit. 

Given to each of the nominees in the Best Actor and Director categories – regardless of whether they actually win an Oscar or not – this year’s “Everyone Wins” Oscars gift bags are, unsurprisingly, very lavish. 

Compiled and provided by marketing company Distinctive Assets, the 2024 edition reportedly comes in at just under $180k and includes luxury holiday vouchers, high-end tequila, designer pillows and very boujee skincare. 

Origin story 

Vulture reports that the practice of giving gift bags to nominees first started back in 1989, though past offerings were much humbler than the thousand-dollar versions we have today. However, brands soon realised the power that celebrity exposure could have for their businesses and the value of products included in each gift bag skyrocketed as a result. 

While initially, the Academy was involved in the process – they played a key role in the gifting tradition up until 2006 – a crackdown from the IRS, who pointed out that the swag was a form of non-cash compensation and thus taxable, led to Academy board members voting to discontinue the practice. 

That might seem like the end, but private companies had been curating their own gift bags for several years by that point and they were willing to continue the custom even if the Academy wasn’t. Lash Fary’s company, Distinctive Assets, landed the gig to provide the official gift bags for the ceremony in 2000, and his reputation only continued to grow from there. The New York Times dubbed him the “Sultan of Swag”, and he came to be known for “the ushering in of an era of celebrity product placement”. 

As Fary recalls, the concept was born from an encounter with Bette Midler who reportedly reached out to him to thank him for “all the fab swag” she had received after the Grammys. Fary had been hired to make the gift bags for the event and while Midler didn’t win, she was overjoyed with the idea of a consolation prize… and thus, the idea for the “Everybody Wins” Oscars goodie bags was conceived. 

Gift bags suitcases

Stemming from humble beginnings, these gift “bags” have only grown in value and notoriety since then. In fact, they’re not even bags but large pieces of luggage or steamer trunks which can be delivered directly to nominees’ houses, hotels or production companies. And despite celebrities now having to pay taxes for the extravagant gifts, Killing Eve star Sandra Oh remains the only famous person to have rejected one thus far. 

Things escalated yet again back in 2016, when Forbes revealed that the Sultan of Swag’s annual offering was worth an estimated $230,000 apiece – the highest estimated value of a goodie bag to date – and included vapes, vibrators, “vampire breast lifts” and a trip to Israel. Tired at the insinuation that the Oscars governing body was still involved in the practice,  the Academy took Fary to court. A month later, Distinctive Assets released a statement saying that they had reached an “amicable” settlement with the Academy after agreeing to no longer use any Academy trademarks and to start including disclaimers to remind the media that they weren’t affiliated with the Academy in any way, shape or form. 

In recent years, gifts have been compiled with current events in mind. In 2021, Fary said that he wanted the bags to feel like they were more than just freebies, telling Forbes that that year’s offering had been filled with products from female-owned businesses, Black-owned businesses, disabled entrepreneurs, and companies who give back. An NFT tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman was also included. Showing the actor’s head dipped in gold, Vulture wrote that it “signified an auction of the rights to the digital artwork, with half of the funds going to colon cancer foundations”. Many felt that this was just “commodifying” Boseman’s death and the artist subsequently announced plans to redesign the image.

Money talks 

As for this year’s gift bag? 2024 marks over two decades of Distinctive Assets’ famed “Everybody Wins” gift bags, so naturally, excess was to be expected and it’s believed that this year’s offering is worth just under $180,000. 

From complimentary bags of raw dehydrated cat food to international holidays – one at Switzerland’s exclusive Chalet Zermatt Peak (where a one-week stay can cost over $100,000), a seven-day holistic retreat in California and three nights at a private villa in St Barths – this year’s gift bag has it all. Other inclusions range from health and grooming items to skincare products, food and microneedling. Plant-based company v-dog will also donate 10,000 canine meals to Peta’s Global Compassion Fund for each goodie back recipient.

According to The Guardian, as well as donating the gifts, the 70-odd companies whose pitches are accepted, must also pay an inclusion fee of around $4,000. Monetary value isn’t the emphasis though, Fary claims. “While this gift bag does, as always, have an impressive six-figure value, that is neither our focus nor goal. Just as any A-list actor doesn’t ‘need’ millions of dollars to walk on to a film set, these gifts are given based on the invaluable stardust these nominees can bestow upon a brand.”

Fary also said he hoped this year’s haul would spotlight “small businesses, minority-owned brands, female entrepreneurs and companies who give back”. Lower-cost inclusions range from a Rubik’s Cube to a children’s book and a self-help guide. Mentalist to the stars, Dr Carl Christman, has also volunteered his services, offering nominees a private show.

So, who is eligible for one of the grandiose gift bags this year? Several big names will come away with a swag bag (should they choose to accept) from Bradley Cooper to Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, Carey Mulligan and even our own Cillian Murphy too. Maybe we’ll get a social media unboxing… if we’re lucky. 

The 96th Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre this Sunday with Cillian Murphy in the running for Best Actor and Poor Things up for an incredible 11 different awards – the highest number of Academy Award nominations ever received by an Irish-produced film. 

Feature image courtesy of the Academy Awards