With the Academy Awards only away, event attendees are busy fretting about dresses, tuxedos, and finalizing acceptance speeches.
But one thing they won’t have to worry about its getting stiffed on their gift bags — as this year’s freebies have soared to a value of about $180,000 in goodies, even as Americans’ average income is not even half of that.
The hefty price tag has soared past that of recent swag bags. The gift bag last year, for instance, came in at a modest $126,000.
Meanwhile, according to federal data, the national average income in the U.S. in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384. That is three times less than the value of this year’s Oscars gifts.
The 2024 swag bag is also many times higher in relative value than the $137,000 seen in 2022. However, it is less than the $205,000 seen in 2021, and the 2020 bag valued at a whopping $225,000.
This year’s gift bag —…
