When you are famous, you get a lot of free stuff.

But when someone coined the phrase "don't look a gift horse in the mouth," they obviously had no idea how the Oscars are done.

In other words, every Academy Award nominee is presented with a very lavish gift bag. This year's was made by a company called Distinctive Assets and was called "Everybody Wins." The concept is that if you don't get a gold statue, at least you get a three-night prepaid trip to Canada.

But while it's a great idea to begin with, it turns out that these free gifts are not free; the kind folks at Forbes have calculated that the retail value of the 2023 grab bag is about $126,000, with $46,620 from the IRS and (California resident) about $16,000 from the state, for a total tax bill of $63,378. In other words, that's more than most people's annual income. It's like the tote bags and bouncy balls that college student clubs give you that are taxable income.

In my opinion, the recipient of the gift should look that horse's mouth straight in the eye. [Ironically, the founder of Distinctive Assets stated in a press release This grab bag is simply a win/win"

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"These candidates are in a unique position to help participating brands immeasurably simply by wearing, using, and talking about these products. Marketing and advertising can and must coexist with the incessant worldwide coverage of bad news. This is not frivolity; it is basic economics."

Anyway, if you want to judge for yourself whether the contents of the "Everybody Wins" bag are worth the price of a Range Rover, here are some of the items it contained: a vacation on an Italian island, microwave popcorn from Opopop (new tab opens in new tab), a facial rejuvenation treatment by Dr. Konstantin Vasyukevich, and C60 Sexy edible massage oil.

We encourage you to check out the full list if you have time.