Are Celebrity Gift Bags Really Shrinking?
Reuters reports that the celebrity gift bags at the Sundance Film Festival are getting a little lighter this year. Robert Redford chafes at the descent of what he calls “ambush marketers” on the celebrities attending the Sundance Film Festival he founded as a showcase for independent film without all the commercial trappings of Hollywood. But he may be encouraged by the latest trends in so-called “swag” on the sidelines of this year’s event. Celebrity gift baskets, a phenomenon driven by companies’ hopes that celebrities will be shown using their products, are becoming lighter and greener and just a bit more discreet. Stars at Sundance also have more opportunities to make donations to charity, from underwear for a local women’s shelter to phone cards for soldiers. And who is playing the leading role in this new version of swag? None other than the tax man. Last year, months before the Academy Awards, the Internal Revenue Service launched a swag crackdown, putting Hollywood on notice th
