Amazon Announces Star-Studded Deals For Prime Day

Less than two weeks ago, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced the dates and some details about its fifth annual Prime Day sale, which will run 48 hours this year beginning at 12 a.m. PDT on Monday, July 15. The event, which is accessible to Prime subscribers (or those on a trial membership), was originally billed as Black Friday in July. It first appeared in 2015 to celebrate the e-tailer's 20th anniversary but has since become the biggest event of the year for Amazon, surpassing the sales it generates on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Amazon has pulled the curtain back further to reveal some high-profile stars that will be pitching in to make this the company's biggest Prime Day ever.

The stars come out

Earlier this week, Amazon said it would collaborate with "popular actors, musicians and artists to introduce new and exclusive products to members and deliver outstanding deals."

Pop and country music singer Taylor Swift will be headlining the Prime Day concert that will take place at an as-yet-undisclosed location in New York. Swift will be singing her latest singles "ME!" and "You Need To Calm Down." No tickets will be sold for the event, but select Prime members will be invited to attend. The show will be hosted by Jane Lynch and include performances by Dua Lipa, SZA, and Becky G. The concert will be live-streamed on Amazon Prime Video at 9 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, July 10.

Here are a few other star-studded deals that have been arranged for Prime Day:

• American activist and rapper-singer-songwriter Jaden Smith -- son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith -- will be offering Prime members 25% off on JUST Water products. The responsibly sourced 100% spring water, which comes in plain and fruit-infused varieties, is packaged in a plant-based carton, eliminating the need for plastic bottles.
• Actress Kristen Bell, best known for her roles in Veronica Mars and Gossip Girl, started snack bar company This Saves Lives to feed hungry children. The snacks are gluten free, non-GMO, and kosher, and with every purchase, the company donates life-saving nutrition to a malnourished child. Prime members will get 20% off the snack bars.
• Actor Mark Wahlberg, who starred in The Departed and The Fighter, will offer his line of Performance Inspired Nutrition protein powders, sports nutrition bars, and training supplements at a 20% discount to Prime shoppers.
• Former pro basketball player Kobe Bryant may no longer be gracing the courts, but he has developed the Art of Sport line of premium body care products, which boast more botanicals and no unnecessary chemicals. Prime customers can get these products at 20% off.
• Grammy Award-winning singer Zac Brown was an early investor in start-up DemerBox, a waterproof, ultraportable, and rugged outdoor Bluetooth speaker. During Prime Day, shoppers can get the latest edition of the speaker -- the DB2 -- for $279, a 20% discount.

Many of the performers also appear in a video message that was made especially to promote their participation, with many boasting Prime memberships.

More than just a sale

Amazon has worked to make each Prime Day event bigger than the last. The company increased the amount of star power it's using this year to bring attention to what has become its biggest sale of the year. Amazon noted last year that small- and medium-sized businesses selling on the platform "far exceeded $1 billion in sales this Prime Day," and the company sold more than 100 million products.

While Amazon doesn't release specific details regarding its annual event, Internet Retailer estimated that in 2018, the sale nabbed between $4.01 billion and $4.38 billion globally -- or nearly 2% of the retailer's sales for the entire year.

This article originally appeared in the Motley Fool.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Danny Vena owns shares of Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.