Spending a small fortune on a gift basket for Oscar nominees really justified. According to online sources 21 gift bags will be given to the host and losing nominees in five categories including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director at this year’s show on Sunday. Not only is the bag more than double in cost than last year’s, it is also the most expensive bag ever. However, these bags are not endorsed by the Academy itself.
With a range of things included, the most expensive product is said to be a little over $20,000. Personally, I think that the money invested in the bags could be better utilized if donated to charity. There are way too many expensive things for people who are already rich enough to afford it themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I am not thrashing celebrities here. But being nominated for an Oscar, the biggest movie award in the world should be enough as it is. Adding an expensive gift on top of that is not needed. I am sure the celebs themselves give a lot in charity but I can’t seem to get my head around the amount of money spend. Being nominated to awards that started in 1929, have enough power to not only give you credibility as an actor (let alone the fact whether you deserve it or not) it also gives you a name in the illustrated history of academy awards. Sure sponsors that add their products to the list to get some promotion in the press but is giving their products to Oscar nominees really the way to go? swag bags, as they are called, appear to be more of a marketing strategy than a way to congratulate the nominees. In 2006, The Academy itself voted to end the distribution of gift bags, but that obviously did not happen.
The swag bags are certainly nonessential. Possibly the worst thing there is in my opinion. It degrades the show by adding an over-expensive price tag on it. Everyone is a professional, everyone is nominated because of their work, because they have achieved that. There is a lot of poverty in the world, that could really use the amount of money spent on these bags. After all, millions of unknown people liking your work, praising it and wishing you the best, isn’t that the biggest reward there is?
Sources
http://www.redeyechicago.com/viral/redeye-2015-oscar-gift-basket-20150216-story.html
http://variety.com/2015/film/awards/oscar-nominees-gift-bag-25k-swag-bag-1201431221/
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