Oscar nominees will walk away from the Academy Awards this year with a hefty gift bag worth approximately a quarter of a million dollars, regardless of whether they take home a golden statue.
This year's swag bag is being billed as the most valuable one yet, at an estimated value of US$220,000 ($304,700 Canadian), according to the Distinctive Assets marketing firm. Distinctive Assets puts the gift bags together each year, and is not officially associated with the Academy Awards.
Distinctive Assets is well known for collecting a wide range of luxurious, trendy and bizarre items for its Oscar bags, such as the $1,200 golden bike and the $20,000 "mind-reading services" included in last year's package.
This year, the company has some new oddities for the bag, including $275 toilet paper, customizable M&M candies and a vampire breast lift.
For those unfamiliar with bleeding-edge Hollywood cosmetic trends, the vampire breast lift involves drawing blood from a patient, then re-injecting the plasma from that blood into the patient's breasts. The procedure allegedly uses "blood-derived growth factors to revive rounder cleavage without implants," and can supposedly restore sensitivity as well.
As for the pricey toilet paper, Distinctive Assets says it "brings sophistication to the most intimate body-cleansing regime." But at $275 a roll, it might be cheaper to simply wipe yourself with $5 bills.
The most expensive item in the bag is an all-inclusive, 10-night trip for two to Israel, valued at $55,000.
The package also includes a one-year Audi A4 rental, valued at $45,000, and a lifetime supply of soaps and lotions from Lizora, valued at $31,200.
Canadian products are also represented in the bag, through a collection of maple-flavoured items from Rouge Maple, a company based in Quebec. The Rouge Maple contribution includes an "official certificate of adoption" for a maple tree in Notre-Dames-Des-Bois, Que., which is listed as "invaluable!"
Other items in the bag include cosmetics, health foods, personal training sessions, alcohol, a vaporizer, a home spa package and complimentary nights at various luxury hotels.
