14 DAY TRIAL // Almost everyone knew that Motorola would be giving free Z3 phones and an accompanying limited edition gift box to all the nominees at the 79th Annual Academy Awards.
Most people were sure this would happen because it would not be the first time Motorola would deliver their products as gifts to the Oscar nominees. Later on, the Academy's lawyers sent an email, letting everyone know that Motorola is not affiliated with the event in any way.
Moreover, according to them, guests will not even be allowed to carry such a phone, as cameras and cameraphones will not be allowed during the event. This is somewhat strange considering that Motorola had announced the not-yet-available MOTORIZR Z3 phone would be making its debut at the Academy Awards.
According to Motorola : " In keeping with Motorola's traditional Oscar phone efforts, each nominee's phone is packaged in a custom made, keepsake box. This year, the MOTORIZR will be presented in a package reminiscent of a classic Hollywood dressing room door, complete with a personalized star with the category and name of each nominee."
Not only will the nominees give up Motorola's phones this year but it looks like they won't be getting any gift bags of any type. It looks like things are about to change but Motorola has in fact been giving away mobile phones to the nominees at the Oscars for the last 8 years.
This is what the Academy's lawyers had to say: "Motorola is neither an official Academy sponsor nor provider, nor will a nominee even be allowed to carry this type of phone at the Academy Awards (guests are not allowed to bring cameras, including phones with a camera feature). Additionally, it should be made clear that the Academy does not give, and has never given, gift baskets to its nominees. We have in the past given gift baskets to our award presenters, but you may or may not have heard that this practice has recently been discontinued."