The Girl Scouts just got $5.5 million in free advertising

derekbruff/FlickrAt the 88th Academy Awards, there were winners outside of the realm of film.

The Girl Scouts received an estimated $5.5 million in free advertising, Joyce Julius & Associates, a firm that analyzes brand placement and sponsorship, told Digiday.

The free advertising came thanks to a bit by host Chris Rock, who brought his daughter and a local Girl Scout troop to the event to sell cookies. Attendees spent more than $65,000 on the treats, with celebrities including Kate Winslet, Mindy Kaling, and even Vice President Joe Biden chipping in.

The Girl Scout organization was understandably excited by the free promotion, posting to Instagram: "Sweetest. Oscars. Ever."

With an estimated value at $5.5 million, the free promotion was even more valuable than another recent piece of unpaid advertising: Peyton Manning's Budweiser shout-out after the Super Bowl. Bloomberg valued Manning's shout-out at $3.2 million, before accounting for the statement's impact on social media, where Budweiser accounted for 80% of the game day discussion of beer.

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