Hollywood A-Listers get a chance to lend a hand to pets in need with an annual Oscar nominee gift bag.
Arriving on the doorstep of Oscar nominees each year, the week leading up to the celebration, is a luxury gift bag offering Hollywood stars the opportunity to sit back and relax—and also give back.
For the past 16 years before the Academy Awards ceremony, this "Everyone Wins" gift bag has been given to the top five categories of Oscar celebrities: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director. Unaffiliated with the Oscars themselves, a celebrity marketing company called Distinctive Assets started the idea.
They call the swag bags "a blend of fabulous, fun, quirky, and indulgent items meant to thrill and pamper those who may have everything money can buy but still savor the simple joy of a gift."
Halo® pet food is participating in the celebrity gift-giving for the fourth year in a row. In the Oscars gift bags, Hollywood stars receive a certificate from the organic pet food company that they can cash in to an animal shelter of their choosing. In return, Halo® fills 10,000 bowls with tasty, healthy food.
David Yaskulka, Vice President of Social Investment & Engagement for Halo, Purely for Pets®, Inc. told Wide Open Pets that a number of notable A-Listers have cashed in the certificate in the past including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Jeff Bridges, Ethan Hawk, and Samuel L Jackson.
Yaskulka told us the idea to have Halo® participate started with a desire to help those in need. He said:
"We at Halo already have an ongoing commitment to donate 10 times the national corporate average to help feed shelter pets across the county and we thought creating a buzz in Hollywood would complement and support these efforts."
He went on to explain to us why Halo® pet food specifically is beneficial for shelter animals. Yaskulka said:
"Since Halo pet food is made only with real WHOLE meat and comes from sustainable farming sources, these donations are often life-changing for those shelter pets that receive them. Shelter staff tell us how dogs and cats eating Halo have better coats and overall health, making them more adoptable. It is also exciting for us to see staff at the various animal shelters who will tweet at celebrities to donate their 10,000 bowls of Halo to them."
This year's Everyone Wins bags also include personal training sessions with Alexis Seletzky and weight loss supplements, spa days, international expeditions like a Hawaii get-away at the Poipu resort, a trip to Tanzania, and a trip to Greece. The gift bags also include Bluetooth speakers, Jarritos (a Mexican soda), a gum rejuvenation procedure, LE CE?LINE beauty products, skin care products and a color-changing lipstick, edible jewelry from Chocolatines, Rouge maple syrup, and more, even a pepper spray for protection, all donated from companies who want to thank celebrities for letting us escape into a fantasy world for a couple of hours in front of the big screen.
You can encourage nominated celebrities like Margot Robbie, Denzel Washington, and Octavia Spencer to redeem their Halo® gift certificate with the hashtag #HaloFeedItForward.
What shelter do you think Oscar nominees should donate to? Share your idea in the comments below and be sure to tag an Oscar nominee!
All photos via Halo® pet food.
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