Does Making It Onto Oprah’s List Still Matter for Early-Stage Brands?

For two decades, Oprah’s Favorite Things has been the gold standard of gift-guide and gift-giving glory. A single mention once sent brands into back-order chaos—2025’s equivalent of “going viral”. In the 2000s, that was the Oprah Effect: 20,000 units of Spanx sold overnight, shelves cleared, phones jammed.

But in 2025, when Flaus (an HSR Ventures portfolio company) made this year’s list, the question wasn’t “Does it work?” It was “For how much longer will it?”