ARO thread 3

[Thedom]

Couldn't resist opening it with this from the last thread 😁

I did not know that. But I can't say it surprises me in the slightest.

I actually think Meghans cookery show could have been very successful but not filming in her home won’t give that authentic feel people like when watching lifestyle programming.

I know not every show is recorded in someone’s home, but the ones I like are. Food network has Ina Garten in her ‘fabulous’ Hamptons kitchen, there’s the sweet Girl meets Farm and her delightfully normal wee kitchen, Ree Drummond on her Ranch etc.

It’s like they are inviting you in and it feels a privilege to get to see their home.

Meghan just won’t have that feel. It will be over stylised and not have that warmth you want because you know she doesn’t know where the cutlery drawer is.

I get it though, probably wants some level of privacy

It makes sense to me. They're selling a fantasy version of Britishness - it's no more real than the idea that Britain is either shrouded in a pea-soup smog or tipping it down with rain. Their target audience/market is squarely in the US and there will be scant regard for how odd people in Britain see aspects of this, just as long as it sells a lifestyle dream there.

The Nacho picture probably looks a bit off because it's posed not spontaneous

Interestingly there’s a famous farm around 40 mins from Monticeito that sells strawberries called….no joke……..Harry’s Berries. I would have thought Meghan has a firm grip on those already!

Im convinced this is where the strawberries are from. The farm is famous for them.

But what 'dream' was being sold here?

A plain jar of strawberry jam? With a wonky label? And a bloke biting into it with his fillings on full display?

And if it's all about 'Britishness' why is the site called 'American Riviera Orchard Montecito'?

If there is a market for Ye Olde English style, I'm sure there are much better places to buy it, even in America. Again, who exactly is the target market here?

Goodness.

I wasn't aware of this. Are there any salacious links to the goss?

But if that's the case, surely we should know?

How are you going to promote your brand by sending out a generic jar which doesn't even say the product name on it? If your product is sourced in a local farm well known for its strawberries, surely your potential customers should know?

For all any of us can tell, that jam could have been bought in the local supermarket.

The Flamingo Estate that Meghan was once in talks with and who others think she has styled her ARO business on, uses Harry’s Berries

She will be using all their contacts

I’m not sure anyone in US thinks of jam as English. If it was, that might be a good draw, but it’s not that interesting or exotic to us. I searched my local store’s app for jam and got 150+ hits.

I had a Sicilian Orange jam this morning, made in Sicily. Not sure where I got it, but I didn’t buy it there and nor was it a gift from
someone that had been recently.

All to say, it’s going to be a tough market and probably will appeal mainly to Meghan’s fan base so I hope they eat alot of Jam.

Mom’s POV: oh my goodness, I can make a delicious jam in my crockpot. Why would in need to buy it from California?

As well as donating to The Trussell Trust it's a good idea to also follow Flamingo Estate on instagram. MM has blatantly stolen their business model, after having very involved talks regarding being part of their business.
Then she steals and mimics the idea.
As for jam, buy it on Highgrove site.
Support KC.

I don’t know why she wants to promote anything that has the remotest connection to the colonialist, racist Uk, a country that she clearly hates and has no regard for, but then again anything for the dollar, let’s hope the sewer squad have deep pockets as I can’t see anyone else rushing to buy her wares.

As for jam, buy it on Highgrove site.
Support KC.

Waiting for my order to arrive! The website has some really lovely things though for some things you have to have deep pockets. I plan on visiting as well the gardens look stunning.

No, i worked several polo polo seasons in Florida, and he was 'everywhere'

Tbf, Meghan hasn’t actually said she’s seeking world domination with ARO. Perhaps she just wants it to be a side hustle (the main hustle ring, of course, grifting off of merely existing).

I think it might become clearer who her target audience is once the Netflix show airs. But you have to wonder why she’s put this jam out there first. Is the show launching Meghan, and the jam launching the show? Or is the jam launching Meghan, or is Meghan launching the jam and maybe also the show? I think her target audience is people who don’t bother themselves with such questions, or indeed any vaguely probing questions.

There are people who are prepared to pay a bit extra for everyday things, that whole thing of upscaling your mundane life in little ways to sprinkle some gold dust on an otherwise very quotidian existence. It might just make you feel like a duchess while your scram some toast into yours and your child’s mouth as you rush into the school run in your ball gown and blacked out Range Rover with trailing securidee….. Yeah, no. I don’t know who her target audience is.

But who is producing the jam? (I can't believe that this was a question I actually felt like asking regarding a member of the RF!!)

Find Christopher Bouzy. He’s the worst, then anyone on his comments supporting him that has a profile picture of either Meghan or Harry (or one being derogatory about the Wales’s) is part of the Sussex Squad. They’re really fun to wind up and are spectacularly stupid and cultish. They also reply to people using GIFs and I can’t figure out why

It is a strange choice. I’d have thought she’d have gone for chutney. Not as sugar-intensive and fancier than plain old strawberry jam.

I’ve just googled Highgrove Jam and I can’t believe how blatantly identical the ARO branding on the jam is

Then everything they do is Royal cosplay including the ARO logo, the Sussex website etc.

The ARO British domain (that leads to the Trussell Trust Just Giving page) is completely inspired. I have donated. The comments in support of the RF are heart-warming.

'royal cosplay' is a great way of putting it

It is very entertaining to watch! And does tend to undercut their various critiques of the RF 😂

It's all a royal cosplay because they want to be royal, but just not on anyone else's terms.

I completely agree. What a brilliant thing to do.

I think it was sensible to avoid chutney, especially as a launch product.

There would be an entirely predictable "copying" fuss, given the anecdote PoWess told about deciding what to give the Queen (must be ultimate difficult in-law to buy for!) and how she made a batch of her granny's chutney and gave a jar to ER II

If the Duchess has chutney as a potential product, much better to bring it quietly into a well-established range.

Do we know who made the ARO jam?