Host Chris Rock presents the amount of money (a joke) collected during the show by the Girl Scouts, including Rock’s daughters Zahra and Lola, onstage at the 88th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California.
Rock, as the event’s host, made use of the opportunity to help his daughters sell Girl Scout cookies to celebrity attendees. In total, the girls sold more than 300 boxes of cookies for approximately $2,500 during the event. But by the time Girl Scout Week, this week, is over, the goal of $65,243 — meant as an onstage joke, may probably be met. At the event, millionaire celebrities were grabbing for boxes.
What’s serious is the girls did raise dough, and Rock was responding to a request from his daughters to help them with their sales.
At the stage, Chris Rock shared that his Oscar-hosting duties have caused him to miss the opportunity to help his daughters with the Girl Scout cookie season. “I’ve been away from my two daughters at a very important time in their life. I have missed most of Girl Scout cookie season,” he said. Chris Rock also told the audience how his younger daughter Zahra complained about coming in second on her troop’s cookie sales and asked for help.
“I want you to reach into your millionaire pockets and buy some of my daughters’ Girl Scout cookies,” Chris Rock added, sending a local Girl Scout troop all over the Dolby Theatre. Not a few celebrities were soon spotted buying and eating the cookies, including Kate Winslet, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, John Legend, Matt Damon and Christian Bale.
When Chris Rock called for the troop to get up on the stage 45 minutes later, the on-screen tally had shown the number $65,243, representing the amount of money the girls have raised. On their official Twitter account, @girlscouts tweeted their gratitude to Chris Rock for giving them the rare opportunity.
According to Advertising Age, the Girl Scouts said that Chris Rock personally reached out to a troop leader two weeks ago and the organization stepped in from there. “Working with the Academy was a team effort. We helped out in any way we could,” they said.
The Director of Communications for Girl Scouts of the USA Stewart Goodbody elaborated the process that happened behind their emergence in the prestigious award event. It all began with Chris Rock. “He has personal ties to Girl Scouts, and he speaks really highly of the organization. And he felt it would be a great idea to do something fun and lighthearted and shine the light on something positive in this year’s Oscars telecast. And we think he knocked it out the park,” Goodbody said, as quoted by Adweek.
According to San Jose Mercury News, the troop turned to the girls’ troop council to decide how the money will be used. Some have criticized the move, but the Girl Scouts were grateful for the opportunity and the celebrity audience seemed to enjoy the experience.
Chris Rock’s initiative to help his daughters sell Girl Scout cookies turned into a major moment for the troop when they managed to raise $65,243 from only about 300 boxes of cookies. Celebrities showed their support by purchasing the cookies after being encouraged to help by host Chris Rock.