ARO thread 2

[OneHeartySnail]

To continue the discussion...

What next? What did the launch aim to achieve? Did it get the desired result?

I cannot imagine what it’s like day to day at Montecito. It must be just a thrumming hive of frustration and bitterness. And Hermes blankets, natch. I hope those make them feel better.

I don’t get the impression that Harry is unhappy somehow. I think he’s firmly got his head in the sand and just enjoying his freedom . She on the other hand seems a lot less carefree. Who can really know though?

i think there is a plan.

Harry hasn’t got freedom, he lives in the past, he’s still resentful and he’s nowhere near being fulfilled. He maybe happier but that depends on how low the bar is set to begin with. It was the start of the year and he was still talking about Charles and William with the love and reunify. Happy means the ability to let go

I think the Flamingo Estate people are actually very hardworking. They are sourcing from small farms and they know all the producers. Their Instagram is visually beautiful. I really liked their green sofa. Never had an urge to buy any Montecito product.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/21/style/flamingo-estate.html

As an American who spends much of my income on rent and food, I look to buy quality items. The Martha Stewart/Kmart collaboration was great! I still have the kitchenware after 20 years.
I don't know anyone wealthy but my friends and co-workers are not impressed with the Sussexes and won't buy on name alone.

I think if is set up more in the style of goop, Meghan should do well. As I understand it, Goop makes money from the products they sell - their own brand, and those made by others. It is all seems a bit like Amazon to me (without the Amazon membership fee) but prettier and more selective/curated.

One thing Meghan can do is sell things. She wears a dress and it sells out. Just about anything she wears sells out.

There’s s reason tabloids write article after article about Harry and Meghan, and it’s because it brings people to their websites. Plenty of people want to read about them. (Meghan more than Harry I think). There’s a lot of interest.

I do think American Riviera Orchard is too long. But I do think ARO works.

Interesting that the link on the screenshot of the Instagram page posted on page 1 is americanriviera.com. (No ‘orchard’ so you don’t even have to remember it all).

Yes I agree with this. I suppose I mean happier than he seemed to be a year or two ago. It’s all relative. It doesn’t seem like he’s been happy in his life generally really. She used to seem happy but now she looks a bit haunted to me, beneath the big fake smiles.

Meghan doesn’t strike me as looking ‘haunted’, but maybe she is. The hammering served to her from the tabloid press for years, and certain ‘royal experts’ who, I’m fairly sure, pay their mortgage by criticising her, and also on SM would be enough to make anyone feel ‘haunted.’

Baldrick style?

@Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies
Thank you, I love Hilaire Belloc. That poem particularly is so apt in this situation.

I suspect the poster meant Baldrick as in Blackadder 😆

smilesy

I assumed Tezza1 was referring to the poster's name: Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies which is a poem by Hilaire Belloc.
Sadly I can only remember the first two lines:
"Matilda told such dreadful lies
It made one gasp and stretch one's eyes..."
It's one of his Cautionary Tales, so no good comes to the lying Matilda...

Indeed, @LaMarschallin .
A cautionary tale about dreadful lies. Apt.

IsoldeWagner

Her aunt, who from her earliest youth,
Had kept a strict regard for truth,
Attempted to believe Matilda.
The effort very nearly killed her.

... I suppose it's on topic.

But yes, I was referring to him from Blackadder.

The poem, btw, finishes,

But when Matilda shouted "Fire!",
They only answered "Little liar."

There is no denying Harry and Meghan sell, but there biggest proven commodity at present is gossip, it’s what Oprah, Netflix, Spotify, publishers and tv networks want. Clout chasers have made money, and since all the revelations that number has grown, but nowhere near as much as Harry and Meghan have made. It’s only natural to wonder how they intend to draw a line in the sand and if that will be successful. In the last few months they have rebranded themselves to gather interest, footfall and column inches in the tabloids, their unintended consequence is it is a reminder of the past five years. Spare doesn’t disappear just because Harry now wants to move on.

No, @Vespanest , true - you can't just drop bombshells then expect everyone to move on.
Their selling point is that they're royalty, but as people have said, that link to official royalty is now withered on the vine.
They're going to have to dig more dirt or try a different tack, but it's difficult with such a limited skill set.

The British tabloid royal reporters don't make their money by "criticising her". They make it by commenting on the whole royal family. As they have been doing for decades (nay centuries)

And yes, some behaviours criticism - others praise. For all of them.

Even to the point of deliberate set up in the case of the Duchess of Edinburgh (though of course the argument was that if she wasn't venal and totally unsuitable, she couldn't have been set up). That sort of impersonation/deception to create as story wasn't done because the journalists had an agenda to criticise. It's because they report on things that are worth criticising - and went to great lengths that I'm not sure are fully permitted these days. But even that never has to mean The End for the individual concerned

(which is why I chose Sophie as the example - you'd think she'd never put a foot wrong, and that was brought about not by PR black arts, though she is of course the one who most fully understands them, but by building a track record of doing things well)

Very true, @EdithWeston . In fact, when you actually read some tabloid articles on Meghan, they're actually ok ("Meghan wore a silk two piece by an unknown designer and her favourite Aquazzurra shoes"). It's clickbait.
They report on royals and all celebrities.

Oh yes of course 😂. Sorry, hadn’t had my coffee and didn’t read the post properly 😂😂

edited to add : yes that poem is actually quite apt 😆

Hmmm. Not sure I agree with you. Firstly they don’t need a second goop , and copying is an issue.

secondly everything she wears doesn’t sell out, far from it. Not even a tiny percentage of it.

and thirdly they write about them as they are so contentious, and the behaviour so outrageous, that’s why people read about it. It’s like what will they do next. It’s gossip. And not because of them as such

And for avoidance of later quibbling, I'm not saying there has been no negative coverage.

Simply that it is hyperbole (and unrepresentative of the whole) to state that people pay their mortgage by criticising her. There is considerably more to royal reporting.

And the odd egregious example it itself roundly criticised.

I’m not sure Meghan can ‘sell things’ directly, so to speak. Goop has been around for years (I was an early subscriber to the email list) and has always given the impression of being a ‘passion project’, if a bit of a nutty one. It’s not as though Gwyneth was relying on it for income. She’s an Oscar-winning actress with quite a few blockbuster films to her name, who was married to one of the most successful musicians in the world and is now married to a very successful television producer. Gwyneth is a bit Marmite but can take criticism, even mockery, in her stride. The comparison just doesn’t hold water in any respect, IMO. Also, Meghan gives the strong impression that her passions are, 1. Herself and 2. Money. Not very relatable, and kind of off-putting.