Meghan Markle’s Netflix cooking show, With Love, Meghan, has come under scrutiny, with US correspondent Samuel Clench raising questions about its purpose and the PR strategy behind it. In a piece for News.com.au, Clench questioned the motivations behind creating a show of this scale and wondered what the Sussexes’ PR team was thinking.
Clench criticized the show’s title and tagline, remarking, “‘With Love, Meghan,’ is the title of this thing. ‘Create wonder in every moment,’ is the tagline. I mean come on. What are we doing here? What’s with the faux-Disney vibe?” He also pondered the show’s existence, asking, “Why does any of this exist?”
For Clench, these are questions that could apply to much of what Meghan and Harry have done to shape their image over the past five years. “These are questions you could conceivably ask about pretty much anything Meghan and Harry have done, to affect their image, in the last five years,” he wrote.
He proposed that the Sussexes’ actions might be driven by an attempt to win over the US market, which is already inclined to support them. “The best theory of the case is that these two are only trying to win over the US market, and Americans are already primed to take their side anyway,” Clench observed. “Right, fine,” he continued, “but you do not need to manufacture that support; it exists naturally.”
Clench also emphasized his frustration with the lack of clarity surrounding the point of the Netflix show, and the Sussexes’ broader PR strategy. “We must ask again: what is the point of this Netflix show? What has been the point of the Sussexes’ PR strategy, for years? The answer is quintessentially Australian: dunno,” Clench concluded.
Clench’s critique reflects growing public confusion about the Sussexes’ branding and media strategy. While their efforts to build a presence in the US market are clear, the motivations behind their recent projects remain a topic of debate.