The Academy Award nominees’ gift bag is as much an Oscars institution as the red carpet or the “In Memoriam” segment, and for the past 20 years they’ve been dished out by the marketing agency Distinctive Assets. The 2022 bag’s value clocks in at about $137,000, which almost sounds affordable when when you consider that the combined total value of last year’s swag bags ($5.1 million) approached the worldwide box office earnings of Best Picture winner Nomadland.
Because Distinctive Assets isn’t technically affiliated with the Oscars, it gets to decide exactly who receives its pricy goodie bags. This year, 28 people—hosts Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, and Amy Schumer, plus all the nominees in the Best Actress/Actor, Best Supporting Actress/Actor, and Best Director categories—received the coveted packages.
Those who went un-gifted should not be too put out, though, as many of this year’s goodies are deeply, deeply weird. This is not your standard gift bag full of flavorless cheese and stale crackers—this is a bag brimming over with cosmetic surgeries, pseudoscientific therapies, Lord and Lady titles and literal plots of Scottish land. This is a bag that seems poised to start a cult, or at least an international incident. So let’s dive in to some of the weirdest and priciest offerings, as per the Daily Mail’s rundown.
