LOS ANGELES-CA-Giving is always better than receiving if you’re a vendor manning the usual event gifting suite trying to get a celebrity or two to fall in love with your product. Companies essentially roll out the red carpet for industry-types as they attempt to woo them into backing that bottle of wine or box of chocolate they are promoting.
Judging by what was going on during the Secret Room Events-sponsored 2018 MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet Style Lounge taking place at the Intercontinental Century City Hotel, that wasn’t a problem as thespians like Stanger Things character actor James DuMont waded from one table to the next, scooping up goodies to fill their gift bags. After he stopped by and tried out some fudge from Momma Taylor’s Treats, DuMont talked a little about the impact that MTV has had on today’s pop culture.
“The MTV Movie Awards has always been really supportive of the popular stuff like Jurassic World,” DuMont said. “I’m in that. Then it was the same thing with Stranger Things. MTV kind of builds that kind of cult phenomenon. It’s very funny to me because I was doing Law & Order True Crime: Menendez Murders on NBC…big NBC show. I did six of the eight episodes. Then I do one episode of Stanger Things and social media goes crazy. That’s a testament to MTV, the music awards, acknowledging television and film, certain things that are in the popular culture.”
The whole aura of the MTV era has revolutionized television as we see it today, said longtime actress Anne-Marie Johnson (For the People, NCIS: Los Angeles).
“I’m of the age where MTV changed all of our lives,” Johnson said. “I’m of the age where Michael Jackson changed the life of MTV. I always like to stay relevant. I like watching the MTV Movie Awards, some of their educational specials. I used to watch Teen Mom. I like to keep up. The best way to keep up is every once in a while, you tune in to MTV. The movie awards are important because I’m an actor. Hopefully, one of my movies will be recognized by MTV. That will be kind of fun.”
Johnson, who just completed work on her latest project, The InBetween, said although she receives invites gift lounges all the time, she found some companies at the bustling 2018 MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet Style Lounge to be interesting.
“It’s a tradition for all actor to be invited to these events,” said Johnson. “I always like to come because I like to find products that are made in the U.S. I like to support companies that try to do business in the U.S. It’s like potpourri or poo-poo play. You find the most unique…there’s a really interesting company dealing with condoms…I’ve been married for 31 years. That’s not in my wheelhouse any longer, but it was fascinating what I learned. So, I like entrepreneurs. I like seeing what’s going on, and I run into friends. So, it’s a nice way to spend an hour.”
Before she headed out of the door, Johnson had time to stop by and pick up products offered by CopperHed Hair Care System (Hedlux), which promotes grey hair and hair loss salvation from copper-infused technology. The in-line products being offered to celebs included the CopperHed 1 Premium Copper Super Fast “S” Styler flatiron ($250) and a bottle of Copper Infusion Daily Leave-In Treatment ($30).
“It’s the first liquid and appliance hair system fused with copper technology, so what you may not be of copper deficiency in the body is the leading cause of gray hair and the common cause of hair loss,” a CopperHed spokeswoman said. “So, we’ve come out with a whole system based on this copper technology. The liquid adds shine and hydration to any hair, but it also promotes healthy hair growth and delays the gray and gets rid of dry healthy scalp. We also have the first copper-fused flat-iron. It heats to 450 (degrees) and has a patented “S” design that allows more versatility when styling the hair.”
The biggest takeaway from the 2018 MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet Style Lounge presented by Secret Room Events was the versatility of products being served up by the countless vendors on hand. There was plenty of things to choose from. Sweet-tasting winery (Rock Wall Wine Company, Constellation Brands, Porto Vino), clothing (Exotics by Cedrick), pet food (Farm Fresh Pet Foods), coffee (Behmor), self-protection and security (SABRE, Maglite), and sparkling refreshment (Welch’s), were some of the popular choices hit up by attendees.
The one company leaving perhaps the biggest imprint on the gifting suite was One Condoms, which produces just about any type of condom you can think of. At One Condoms, the company has an entire lineup of condoms for consumers to choose from. Flavor Waves and Tattoo Touch condoms are just several sex protectors from One Condoms that might grab your attention.
“One Condoms is all about putting interesting and engaging artwork on condom wrappers so that people would want to pick up the condoms and talk about them with their friends,” a company representative said. “We do public design contests where anybody can go and create all this amazing, funny artwork. We might work with street artists in New York city or in Spain to put their artwork on condom wrappers. We do all different type of styles from hyperthin (VANISH), glow in the dark (Glowing Pleasures), lubricated, ribbed, and what’s super exciting is My Own Perfect Fit, which we launched last fall, which has sixty different condom sizes…It’s pretty amazing to hear people’s stories when they can finally use a condom that fits properly.”
Recording artist Joy Villa said attending a gifting event such as the 2018 MTV Movie Awards Red Carpet Style Lounge simply means a chance for her to check out and get to know the people pushing their products.
“I’m so excited to be at the MTV Movie Awards Gifting Suite,” Villa said. “This is going to be an incredible awards show, and it’s so fun because you have all these local artists who really want to get their stuff out there and showcase to artists like myself. They may clothing, they make wine, they make chocolates. They use products that better the world. For me, it’s beautiful. It’s not just that I get free stuff, but it’s a giveback. I want to learn about what is the motivation behind this company. Are you doing humanitarian endeavors? Are you helping the world? Are you giving back to the poor or doing something to better the world? That’s what really matters.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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