As Ever #2 Whatever

[PrettyFlyforaMaiTai]

I noticed the old thread is almost full so thought we could start a new one to carry on the discussion about the rebrand and merching.

Are you an ‘As Ever’ or ‘Whatever’?

link to the old thread: www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_royal_family/5277002-as-ever

Maybe find out who is the US/California equivalent of the UK's Information Commissioner? There must be a complaints procedure you can follow the same way you can over here. Alternatively, go public and tweet about it!

I don't understand.

So tried to trademark As Ever in 2022, resent in in 2023 and was granted it in Jan 2024, minus clothing.

So why ARO in Feb 2024? Which wasn't trademarked?

Was As Ever planned to be the divorced Meghan's brand?

@RecoIIectionsMayVary it's so confusing! Why on earth have 2 companies at the same time, what a mess.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14425283/ALEXANDRA-SHULMAN-Meghan-stolen-thunder.html

This quite amusing by Alexandra Shulman on "As Ever" and the paragraph below on Mrs Alice a lifestyle brand.

Edited to add - just googled it - Oh goodness that's over the top - But she has the courage of her convictions and has just gone for it 😂. Here it is

www.mrsalice.com/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAACmASidmjBb5aCJbJ__I98xZlrCAm&gclid=Cj0KCQiAq-u9BhCjARIsANLj-s1JCVblikr4eTCUBQb390_624-6zP-2MmiPEXrJjxJogIBwwQwrpRwaAmYoEALw_wcB

@GiveMeSpanakopita

Can I ask, how unusual it is for a company to promote their new business with references to their old business?

I’ve never seen it before and to me seems very odd.

She mentioned the Tig on her insta video launching As ever. The name is seen five times on the mood board as opposed to As ever, only showing up three times.

Im guessing this is to show she has expertise in this field as some sort of clap back. Surely it just confuses the consumer though.

She wouldn’t have been advised to do this would she?

could you link me to the Ham channel please,
My efforts to search for it just result in lots of videos of Jamie Oliver cooking Christmas ham

Maybe that's where the red dress came from?

@BasiliskStare Alice’s Bio & purpose not all grandiose & unpretentious & very clear despite her being privileged. I also like her stuff :)!

Who is Meghan, authentically? What’s her real passion? I’d listen to a dating blog & how to use what you have to bag a chap & get Goddess like adoration for life! She did ‘The Rules’ on H but what other tips? :) She’s never struggled with dates whereas every 30 something woman in the SE I know does!

Do we really want or need to know who Meghan "really is "? That itself is a false premise and we have already seen so many versions. We don't get to know these people - we are fed what they want to see. Actions speak louder than words and we have seen plenty of action.

@DuchessDissasster aspirational (?) authenticity tells & sells I think to a good extent.

@AtIusvue I think Meghan thinks she is being oh so very clever and smart . She's seen eg the jam criticism and has decided to address that head on with raised eyes, a tinkly laugh and my jam is jam. She thinks that will make us forget that debacle. The mood board is again designed to get people talking about something else. It's an MN typical derailment but people don't forget. It's curated and it's fake. It's also shambolic. " oh my I'm so crazy and full of ideas" but we see it all clearly.

Oh dear.
Her due diligence was obviously sloppier than a soup sandwich.

I'm confused as to why the show wasn't called 'As Ever, Meghan'. It would have tied it all in a bit better.

Or calling the business 'With Love, Meghan'. But to use both is so confusing. It all feels very rushed.

I think if I was tied to her in a PR sense I would be very embarrassed and not want my name attached to any of it. The whole thing feels like an absolute shambles.

So on point as always!
I completely agree.
I saw a TikTok video of Bethany Frankel (of Housewives fame) she was talking about how Meghan has a confused brand and also has a problem with authenticity. It was really interesting to hear her insights that were very much along the lines of yours.

Could somebody please explain - in very simple terms - why she launched ARO when she already had a TM for As Ever .
I am confused .

Yes and made worse by the fact we know they have enough money to employ proper professionals who know about this stuff and could guide them. It isn't someone setting up a small business by themselves trying to navigate these waters.

@Mightymoog I found this - not sure if it was what other people were referring to - but here you go anyway . Others will know better .

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfpTx7KddY8pSitxtarAaIA

It comes across to me as panic and bad planning. I bet this has been thrown together when she came back from Canada as an attempt to turn around the bad press before Netflix.

If she had any skills in this area she should have kept her head down when they moved to California and spent a lot of time developing a brand and done one launch of a properly developed and researched brand.

I'm guessing because she didn't have the TM in 2022. Caveat - this is just from googling not searching US trade mark applications . So if true I suppose they decided ARO was never going to fly. Just comes up first with googling when did Meghan TM As Ever so not sure if it that AI which just collates things. Anyway cut and paste here

"In her initial announcement, Meghan said As Ever was a name she had secured back in 2022. An active application at the US Patent and Trademark Office shows that she and her legal team applied in September of 2024, and have been following the process to make their usage of the name official."

OMG, Meghan tells a lie, quelle surprise and fancy that.

Yes , she would have been able to patent " with love , Meghan " .

Absolutely dripping with humility and sincerity...NOT!

And when I watched as much as I could bear of the video, what struck me was all the itching and scratching that went on! And the hand across the forehead thing. Aaarrgghh - I think I've developed an allergy to Meghan.

I found this but it looks like I have to live in California to complete the complaints form oag.ca.gov/privacy

@BasiliskStare thanks for your explanation. Still confused but not your fault !

I’ve just had a thought.

Pro Sussex supporters, I’m looking particularly at Omid Scobie, criticise and mock Catherine because they say she has been too slow and does not much to show for her early years initiative. Yet she has been working behind the scenes quietly, researching like mad, doing the groundwork and actually spending time with health visitors and midwives. And now we’re starting to see the success stories like the alarm distress baby scale being rolled out within the UK with the hopes that it will be a tool all health visitors can use.

Yet Meghan was eager to get started and “hit the ground running” and keeps rushing through with her ideas with very little research and ground work, and her ventures keep flopping.

Perhaps the lesson for Meghan is that slow and steady wins the race? Put the effort in, do the research, and she may reap the benefits.

This is one of the suggestions I made on how she could salvage her reputation and career. Stay out of the lime light for a few years, do the research, listen to advice, do the ground work and execute the launch to perfection. No having to panic launch because the media got wind of it. No last minute applying for trade marks etc.