After a long Oscar night, host Seth MacFarlane's official after-party included a station from Tkees, which encouraged guests to check their heels (similar to the way they would at a coat check) and pick up a pair of flip-flops—in gold, appropriate to the occasion.
At Lacoste's Coachella pool party in the blazing desert sun, cigarette-style girls, clad in Lacoste gear, passed Kiel's sun-protection products.
Bonnaroo attendees could relax in hammocks and enter to win V.I.P. passes in the "Great State Lounge" hosted by State Farm. The insurance company also provided what it called "Bonnaroo Roadside Assistance"—free services such as help with flat tires and dead batteries.
At the WWD Beauty C.E.O. Summit in Palm Beach, yoga on branded mats on the lawn allowed guests to relax and unwind.
As part of Ben & Jerry's "Thumbs Up for Fair Trade" campaign, attendees could stamp their thumbprint onto a mural promoting the three pillars of fair trade. Afterward, they could sample the brand's Bonnaroo-inspired Coffee Caramel Buzz ice cream flavor.
Branded bandanas filled with ice were given away to overheated attendees. The company also displayed three new Ford Fiestas.
Gigi New York (disclosure: I work with them!) has supported the Watermill Center with gift bag donations for a number of years. This year to celebrate the opening of our Southampton flagship store, we created these “L’enfer” paperweights. The Sartre quote is from the end of his existential drama Huis Clos, which translated means, roughly, closed door. In the play the characters, who don’t know each other and can’t figure out why they are in a room together, slowly realize they are in hell. “L’enfer c’est les autres!”—“Hell is other people!”—is the main character’s anguished cry of realization. Indeed.
Staff dressed in steampunk costumes carrying an oversize (but lightweight) gilded frame wandered the reception room, encouraging guests to pose for photos while framed inside. A stationary green-screen photo booth was set up in the foyer, along with steampunk accessories such as goggles, hats, and parasols.
At the Whitney Museum of American Art Gala at Skylight at Moynihan Station, sponsor Louis Vuitton offered guests glitter tattoos from Glitter Tattoo New York.
At the U.S.O. 2013 Gala in Washington, organizers used a nostalgic, low-tech way to deliver information. Throughout the reception space at the Washington Hilton, guests could peer into viewfinders with slides containing information on the U.S.O. and its mission. Images included snapshots of the troops with their families and on the front lines, and captions read: “The U.S.O. is always by their side.”
