What's in the Oscar consolation prize bags?

BarcelonaThe nerves are beginning to show among the nominees for the most important awards in international cinema. Although the preparations for the grand gala are the same for all nominees, only a few will be declared winners. To alleviate the frustrations of long races and months of work on their respective films, for 23 editions there has been a consolation prize: the Distinctive Assets, this year valued at more than 200,000 euros.

Although the gift bag is called Everyone Wins, the unofficial prize does not console everyone. Specifically, 25 gift packages are distributed in five specific categories. Only the ten nominees for best leading actor and actress, the ten nominees for best supporting actor and the five candidates to win the statuette for best director will receive the lot. This means that nominees who do not win awards in the categories of best screenplay, production, documentary or animation film will not even get consolation prizes.

One of the reasons Distinctive Assets can't reach all of the night's nominees is the financial outlay that each of the lots entails. Although it has fluctuated over the years, the Everyone Wins gift bag is usually worth more than one hundred thousand euros. Luckily for this year's nominees, the price at which the gifts in the bags have been valued has greatly increased compared to previous years: each Everyone Wins bag is worth 206,650 euros. Without going too far, last year the same bag was valued at 165,000 euros. Thus, the total expense for consolation gifts in 2025 is 5.4 million euros.

What's inside the Everyone Wins bags?

"While our gifts are known for being fun and fabulous, they are also intended to encourage small businesses, minority-led companies, female entrepreneurs and initiatives with a social return. This year, with the tragic fires in Los Angeles, we thought it appropriate for our gifts to take the community into account," the package reads. In addition to the gifts linked to the fires on the Californian coast, one from Catalonia stands out. The American company has selected the Barcelona hotel Cotton House as one of the experiences to be given to the twenty-five nominees.

Other eye-catching gifts include a liposuction treatment at a Florida clinic, a three-month family pass to search for ancestors to create a family tree, a €47,000 voucher to build a building, and a coffee table book with pictures of Iceland worth €800.

The hardships of a unique year

Distinctive Assets has been keen to stress that, although they started giving these gifts in 1999, they are not officially linked to the Oscars or the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, so they cannot use the Oscars graphics or be present at the ceremony. For this reason, they assure that they will deliver the large gift package to each nominee outside the official ceremony circuit. In this way, the possible absence of Karla Sofía Gascón at the Dolby Theatre would not be a problem for her to receive the Everyone Wins package, as the organization of the consolation prizes has already made known.