It’s that time of year again, award season for the rich and glamorous. With all the accolades comes a favorite pastime for the stars – hoarding of gift bags from companies looking for high-profile exposure. Every year, the quiet Main Street of Park City, Utah, magically transforms into a corporate logo showcase as companies rent out storefronts to create “hospitality lounges” from which to “gift” celebrities.

In recent years, Park City Utah’s Sundance Film Festival has turned into an avalanche of swag-bags as retailers and designers hope that one of the pretty people dons their latest wares in a snap-shot headed for the star-studded glossies at grocery store near you. And who wouldn’t want to see a Mary-Kate Olson wearing a new Beyonce House of Dereon jacket, endorsing their brand and boosting sales for the company? It’s a boon-doggie baby!

While the writers are still on strike, the swag-bags have taken a more demure position at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Those actors wanting to support the writers and not appear too greedy have been less gregarious with their swag-bag snatching. Some visitors simply checked out the goods and left empty-handed. However, plenty of others have walked away with bags akimbo and posed for publicity pictures.

Rick Warner of Bloomberg News reports in his article, Sundancers awash in sexy swag, plenty of well-known actors and actresses have been spotted strolling through the gift suites on Main Street. Stars visiting LIVEstyle’s film lounge, where the freebies included hats, scarves and sandals from Anne Klein, included Woody Harrelson, Ben Kingsley, Jack Black, Alan Rickman and Amy Adams. The Phoenix, high-end art gallery turned swag-grab-scene, entertained guests including Kirsten Dunst and Armand Assante with organic canvas bags from Ecogear, hand-crafted dresses from Colorado designer Autumn Teneyl and SongPods, vibrating metal ovals with reputed healing powers made by medicine woman Amy Lee.

Entertainment News Blogs reports that founder of the Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford, has taken up the war on swag, giving his staffers a mandate to do all they could to promote the festival’s role as a celebration of filmmakers and their work. Incidentally, the Sundance Institute produced 25,000 buttons bearing the message, “Focus on Film.”

But who can resist free stuff?

Jeremy Walker, whose New York public-relations firm representing six films at Sundance, sent a letter called “Swagifesto,” to his festival clients comparing swag with drugs. ''We've watched swag, like cocaine, turn nice, smart, humble, creative people into monsters,'' the letter says. ''Like cocaine, swag produces a giddy high of self-importance and supreme confidence. As with cocaine, once tasted, the consumer of swag instantly wants more.''

Let's be real, these days the swag is wagging the dog and it doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. Pass the bags!!!