This Year's Grammy Gift Bag Is All About Diversity and Inclusion

By Brendan Menapace

It’s Music’s Biggest Night! Well, Sunday is. That’s right, the 2021 Grammy Awards are happening, and while the event is going the mostly-virtual route of other award shows, there will still be the famous gift bags for nominees.

Every year, it’s fun to see what products are trending, and the overall theme of the bag is a good way to capture the current zeitgeist. This year, the bag features products meant to convey a sense of diversity, “representing companies owned and operated by individuals across race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, persons with disabilities and beyond,” according to Lash Fary, founder of Distinctive Assets, who has been curating the Grammy Awards bag for 22 years.

Unlike other years, the value of the bag hasn’t been disclosed for 2021, with Fary saying that the “real value is that we’re elevating and shining a light on these diverse brands.” Also unlike other years, but consistent with 2020 plans, the bags will be delivered directly to show participants via mail, rather than in a communal gift suite.

Radio.com reported that a lot of the items come from BIPOC-owned/operated companies. Others come from companies that have contributed funds to relevant causes, such as PepsiCo, which contributed $400 million to support Black communities. PepsiCo owns Frito-Lay, meaning Grammy attendees will get to chow down on a bag of Ruffles Flamin’ Hot BBQ potato chips.

Some other stand-out products include:

A down-free vegan coat from PETA/Save the Duck
Tea essentials from Cup of Té, owned by disabled former gymnast Taylor Lindsay-Noel
T-shirt and tote bag from the Trevor Noah Foundation featuring designs by South African artists
“Change-Maker Village,” a children’s book that teaches anti-racism

“Giving gifts is always a lovely thing, even in the worst of times,” Fary said. “With the coronavirus pandemic, systemic racism and the Black Lives Matter movement, there’s so much going on in the world, it would be irresponsible of us to put together a gift bag for a global music event like the Grammys and not acknowledge what’s happening in the world. From the outside looking in, it looks like an amazingly fun gift bag, and then when you look closer, it’s so heartwarming.”

Here’s the whole list of companies and products in this year’s bag, courtesy of Radio.com.