Oprah's Favorite? Things

Over the years I've had mixed feelings about Oprah's annual show that airs around Thanksgiving traditionally, where she gives away all of her "favorite" things to audience members.

On one hand, I love it. I love that she's giving things away to people who wouldn't necessarily be able to afford the things she gives away, some of them being considered luxury items.

In 2004, all the audience members consisted of teachers, who are considered to be very underpaid. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina volunteers were rewarded in her audience.

In 2006, audience members were given $1000 and a video camera to use towards a good deed and videotape it, she then had a follow up show. Many of those members used the money to raise even more money for causes and did great things in their communities.

Though Oprah didn't have a Favorite Things show in 2009 - All Headline News reports she cancelled it -she made up for it by having two in 2008 and this year, she had Oprah's Ultimate Favorite Things.

Some of the gifts audience members received from this year's show were lululemon yoga pants, Nikon cameras, 5 year memberships for Netflix, Sony 3-D TVs and the big gift, seven day all-inclusive Allure of the Seas cruises.



All these free gifts that audiences of around 300 people receive makes me wonder where they come from.

The other side of Oprah's Favorite Things shows is that I don't think she even likes half the things she gives away, and that she's just given them by the companies for advertising purposes.

It makes me wonder what the reason behind the 2009 cancellation of the show really is. There was a recession going on in the United States, maybe companies couldn't afford to give away mass amounts of their supply during the economic downturn.

How many people do you know that buy books because they have the Oprah's Book Club sticker, or remember things when they see them because they saw them on her show, so they must be good.

I can count many, and because of that Oprah's show is a big target for companies to advertise. She has so many viewers and dedicated followers that if you can get your product on her show, it's like hitting advertising gold.

Galaxy Desserts, a Richmond, CA based company reports sale increases after appearing on Oprah's Favorite Things. They were featured on the show three on separate occasions. Their croissants were featured on the 2002 episode and again on the 2005 episode and their molten chocolate cake batter was featured on the 2003 episode.

So are the things Oprah gives away on her Favorite Things shows really her favorite things, or does she just give away whatever the best products are that companies are willing to give her? Talk about extreme product placement.

For some reason I just can't picture Oprah in a pair of lululemon pants.