The “gift bags” distributed to the Oscar nominees contain a Lapland holiday offered by a Finnish company

Finnish luxury travel company Hideout Villas got into rare company this year, when its private villas in Lapland and arctic experiences were chosen as part of the “gift box” distributed to Oscar nominees.

It is one of Hollywood’s perhaps most famous so-called side effects. The bags will be delivered to 25 superstars, which this year include, among others Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Kate Hudson, Emma Stone and Wagner Moura.

The value of a single gift bag is over $300,000.

Hideout Villas offers a gift bag as part of a private luxury holiday in Lapland.

Guests can stay in the villa of their choice in Levi or Ylläs. In addition to maintenance, the full service experience includes a selection of experiences in Lapland’s nature. Of these, hunting for the northern lights in particular has attracted international interest

By calculation, the Finnish company offers a total of around 910,000 euros worth of accommodation and services to the gift bags.

Legendary gift bag not distributed by the Oscar Academy but by Los Angeles-based PR house Distinctive Assets, whose founder Lash Fary has been collecting bags for 24 years.

According to him, the purpose is to make the candidates “celebrated”, and at the same time to raise small and emerging brands into the limelight. As you know, companies pay a few tons to get their product or service in the bag.

In addition to the Lapland opportunity, there are several other fun holidays in the bag. In addition to them, Kass has home furnishing packages that can cover almost the entire renovation of the apartment. Candidates are also given luxurious teeth whitening, skin care and even liposuction. In addition, the bag includes facial rejuvenation treatment worth 20,000 euros, and on top of that, the services of a lawyer for the prenuptial agreement.

The gift bag phenomenon has also received criticism, as it has been seen, for example, to promote Hollywood elitism. The actual Oscar Academy stopped its own gift bag tradition already in 2006, but the PR office has continued the tradition alone.

We called Hideout Villasin toimitus­johtaja Tommi Lehtonen and we asked how it all happened.

How did you end up joining the bag?

“A customer who visited our destination recommended it to the PR agency. He had said that it could be suitable for a bag, and that’s where it started.”

What do you estimate your stake in the bag to be worth?

“That’s about $35,000.”

What does it contain?

“There is accommodation in the two villas, so the customer chooses between the two [Levi tai Ylläs]. It has our vip driver at all times. Then there are housekeeping services and Chef service and some of our private activities at the destination. Winter clothes and small extras on top of that.”

How many bags does this go into?

“25 Oscar nominees in the bag, i.e. who are nominated in the five main categories. And then, in addition, the host of the gala Conan O´Brienin into the bag.”

So mathematically it’s 26 times $35,000?

“That’s right. However, quite a lot of people don’t use the offer.”

What do you hope to get in return for donating?

“Of course, we hope that we will get international visibility for our services. Through the world’s media and others.”

Does anyone commit to social media posts or similar?

“No. There’s nothing like that here.”

The gift box has also been criticized for elitism and travel for the rich. How do you feel about this?

“Well, at least this burdens the destination country less than mass tourism, because a single person leaves that much more money in the destination country.”