Meghan’s show IS something new and different.

[AtIusvue]

So we have it wrong. THIS IS an entirely new format for a cookery/lifestyle show. Because it isn’t a cookery/lifestyle show. This is Netflix first foray into the world of informercials and they are doing it in NF style; meaning a big budget and a slight twist.

So With Love, Meghan is a 5hr advert for As ever and Meghan Sussex. But what makes it different; is it has been disguised as a lifestyle show and there’s no direct sales. It’s the soft sell…..very beige and subtle.

So every recipe and story Meghan shares, is designed around an As ever product. Even conversations with friends are designed to either sell Meghan or a product.

For example. In Ep 8, she makes shortbread with edible flowers. A packet mix of shortbread with edible flowers is now on the As ever website. Now on the show, we don’t see her open the box. But what we do see, is her giving a very quick run through of a basic dough recipe and then tell the viewer they can just use shop bought. The majority of the time isn’t spent in the baking, it’s spent on the decorating with edible flowers.
This is by design. All the baked goods she’s shows you on the programme, she says things like ‘I don’t enjoy baking’, ‘I’ve never made doughnuts before’, ‘ I only learned last week to make focaccia’ ‘I don’t like measuring’
So while viewers who are expecting to watch a cookery show, are flummoxed by someone with such little baking skills teaching us- it’s because it’s an advert and she’s selling the idea that the baking part isn’t important. So when the As ever baked goods mixes appear after the advert goes out, people will want to buy. Because they know that even Meghan doesn’t like baking. That it’s ok to skip that part, and focus on the decorating and gifting part.

This is soft selling infomercials. It’s a Netflix/QVC hybrid. She is directly selling you the idea and lifestyle, but softly selling you the products. You find out what these products are, after the show.

More examples-
Ep 1 where she makes an Epsom salt bath mix (As ever TM pending). The honey and ginger tea she shares with her friend Daniel is on the As ever website. Teapots are also intended to be sold. The raspberry jam that she uses in the cake she bakes (which again, is a very basic mix and she runs through quickly- because we know she wants to sell packets of the stuff) is now available in the website. As is the honey she used for the cake syrup.

So Ep 2, where we see Meghan make kids party bags. Included are kids gardening tools (which is under the As ever TM application) a honey stick (TM application ) and plant pots (TM application)

Everything is for sale. When in Ep. 7 Meghan puts shop bought croissants in a basket and decants jam into little ramekins, a quick look at the TM application confirms that these are all items she intends to sell under As ever.

How does the soft sell look?

Take for example the jam on the show. The label isn’t on the jar, so it’s not directly selling the brand, As ever. But it’s the same jar shape and we know that it’s raspberry because the cake is decorated with fresh raspberries on top, indicating the jam used. Or the crepe are served with the jam and fresh raspberry’s. It’s all very subtle. The raspeberry jam product then drops straight after the show.

The stories she shares are designed to sell too. For example; her memory of her gran making apple butter- she has fruit butters under her TM application.

Even conversations with friends are designed to sell not only Meghan (how wonderful she is) but they are designed to introduce products in the As ever line. So in Ep 5 we see Meghan’s friends Kelly and Abby discuss Meghans love of spicy condiments - these are under the As ever TM application. We also see Abby discuss Meghans love of flowers and how she helped her in her floral business. From the TM application, you can see it is As Ever’s intention to sell fresh flowers and plants. It’s also why we are given floral demonstrations with ‘supermarket’ flowers.

Conversations with her friend Vicky too in Ep 7, about how Meghan loves a polished skin look, while making face masks- again, we see As ever intends to sell non medicated skin products from the TM application.

The show is a practical demonstration of how to use her products, but the products are released after the advert. When you cross ref the TM application items with what was seen on screen, you see clearly that everything is designed for a sale. Crockery, candles,baskets, wrapping paper, jam etc.

Another tell that this is an infomercial hybrid, is the fact that they have said more As ever items will be released seasonally. Why? What’s seasonal about honey and ginger tea and crepe mix that it’s to come out in spring? These are store cupboard items, not seasonal products.
What they actually mean is, when a new advert comes out, new products will be introduced and added to the collection.

This is why all the press reviews for the show mean nothing. NF won’t care that’s it’s ridiculed. We have all just watched the advert they wanted us to watch. What they want is for it to translate into sales for As ever. It really doesn’t matter how much critical acclaim the show gets, as it’s just a vehicle for the products.
Additionally, we know from the TM application that As ever wants to enter the podcast world. So her new podcast will be in furtherance to the brand and selling the products. But again, it will be a soft sell, not direct.

So it IS a completely new style of cooking show. It goes beyond product placement but isn’t direct selling. I think meghan and NF think they have been very clever. At some point everyone will figure out these are just adverts and work out that every recipe, conversation and story, is linked to an item that you can buy on the As ever website straight after the show.

She’s not trying to be Martha Stewart, she wants to be the new Kathy Ireland ……Meghan Sussex. That’s why there’s been a name rebrand. It’s trying to copy the Kathys mega brand (huge in the US, unknown here) but direct selling her own products….but in a 2025 Netflix kinda way.

So the purpose of the informercial was to

1- introduce the name Meghan Sussex. That’s why they’ve included the car crash ticking off Mindy got- because at least it got her new brand name in. It’s the new Kathy Ireland.

2- To sell the new Meghan Sussex image. So throughout each episode, her friends fawn over her and tell her how amazing she is at everything- cooking, hosting, flower arrange etc.

3- To soft sell the lifestyle wirh generic, no label products first, then find out what the As ever products are after. I’m sure this is a way to get around not having to list the show as an advertisement. That’s also why the name of the show and her product line are different. So it’s not seen as traditional advertisement.

With her appearance on Drew Barrymore, she’s confirming the new brand name, confirming that she’s this super nice, working mom and that she has products to sell you.

Absolutely shameless and so underhand in my opinion……but it might work.

I know!! The irony.

Here we go with the old “uptight Brits” bollocks. I have to say, I have never seen anyone with a bigger sense of humour failure or inability to laugh at herself than the Duchess of Sussex. Wearing ripped jeans and going barefoot doesn’t make you less uptight when all you are doing is cosplaying. It’s impossible not to be uptight when all you ever do is want to be centre of attention and have everyone be in awe of your alleged wonderousness. I don’t think most Brits or the royal family have that problem

I respectfully disagree. I think that scene would have ended up on the cutting room floor (as an unfriendly exchange proving these two don't know each other at all) had there been enough decent content and something else to excite the viewers. But there wasn't, and Netflix knew it would cause a controversy, and get people/the media viewing and talking. And so it has. It's one of the few times she references her royal life, and they know the royal stuff is the real gold, not Meghan fiddling around with a corn on the cob. Mindy Kaling looked absolutely startled to be being told off. I think that was unscripted and a surprise to all concerned. I do think it was probably edited to smooth over any unpleasantness.

You’re right & all above makes sense but isn’t it true things are segmented, re-shot etc (?) Would MM have had any sway over what edited?

Yes it’s the inconsistency that really irks me!
can’t dress properly to meet her new in-laws , ripped jeans and barefoot!
then dressing up in British looking tea dresses and cosplaying high tea parties on tv in America!!!
pick a bloody lane!

Not uptight?

She was like a clenched coil anytime she was letting a dear friend help!

I’m beginning to really think that people from other countries are getting their insights into U.K. people directly from the crown and downton abbey!!!
its fictional people!!

I thought maybe Joan Collins in Dynasty 😂

Oh my goodness. Every time I've heard her speak she's been so brittle and angsty!
So uptight.

Nah Joan’s a legend!
although how much do you want to bet that the average American thinks she’s actually American?

True! Joan is a legend. Uptight she ain't!

Does anyone think that the term "uptight" could be used to describe Princess Anne 🤔?

I think MM is an executive producer of the show. That should give her a fair amount of sway over the editing suite, I would have3 thought, but her bargaining position would be versus Netflix saying this is your last chance saloon, so it's our way or the highway. And it is also a sly way of having a go at the RF and causing a controversy, which seems to be MM's raison d'être, so there's every chance that she is perfectly happy for that exchange to have been shown as it has been. From the clips I have seen, it cuts from Kaling looking dumbfounded to MM explaining that she wanted to share the name her children have. I have no doubt there was something in between those two exchanges that was cut out. Possibly Mindy apologising and making MM look like a bully for blindsiding her? Who knows?

Don’t know @DelectableMe, 🤔 I’m thinking any woman who stood up to an armed kidnapper and said “ not bloody likely “
and constantly told journalists to “ naff off” , is probably not uptight! 🤣

😂😂
Yes, somehow I don't think either of her husbands ever came home to find her collapsed on the floor, weeping!

Poor Jamie, he was fighting against ignorance. And now there's a childhood obesity crisis. I loved him.

I sincerely doubt it as well!

Comedians are some of the most astute observers of human nature. And they see MM as uptight.

One thing that I still don't really understand about WLM is Meghan's mania for slapping dead flowers on top of every foodstuff.

I mean don't get me wrong. I'm very fortunate to have been to a few Michelin-starred restaurants in the course of my work (wouldn't go on my own coin) and I know that sometimes a dessert or starter will be garnished with a tiny fresh flower or two - to enhance the presentation or the taste. What I've not ever seen, and remain flummoxed by, are mounds of dead horticulture on an omelette or plate of raw carrots.

Why? Who wants this? It's low-level food-abuse. If someone served me a frittata heaving under piles of dead plant matter, I'd assume that they either didn't like food much, or didn't like me much. Or possibly both.

@GiveMeSpanakopita It's just another sign that Meghan doesn't know what she is doing. She has obviously been to a few Michelin starred restaurants and seen the edible flowers. Her thought process sees the flowers as the 'elevated' part of the experience not the hours of fucking about with the food in the kitchen beforehand. She uses the flowers as her shorthand for 'elevated'. I genuinely believe she is that shallow and appearances are everything.

It's clear she isn't really a foodie and probably didn't eat any of the stuff she produced. Neither did her guests.

I reckon Meghan’s surname is still Markle, legally.

certainly that was the rumour doing the rounds from her return from Canada when the immigration officer refused to use her title, though of course that’s not proven.

I think the snap at Mindy actually meant “don’t you know I’m (the Duchess of) Sussex now”? It was made out to be about the surname but I think it was all about the title.

then all the guff about sharing your name with your kids was all just an awkward attempt to wrap that pointed clapback up in something fluffy about the importance of family togetherness, rather than MM having an entitled hissy fit over not being addressed by her royal title.

because the point doesn’t make sense - the kids don’t have the legal surname Sussex so it’s not a family name in any sense. If she cared about sharing the same surname as her kids then she would have changed her name to Mountbatten-Windsor.

edited to add - I think I saw a poster on another thread comment that the scripted line Mindy was supposed to say was “I can’t believe the Duchess of Sussex eats Jack in the box and loves it” but got it wrong by saying Meghan markle, and that’s what elicited Meghan’s reaction - I think that makes a lot of sense. She wants to act like she’s down to earth, but the reality is she has to have her status and “superiority” acknowledged at all times.

@elessar - makes sense. Meghan is certainly very royal!

But why should she have the elevated status of "being royal" just because she married Harry? I know that's how it works but it's not very feminist is it? And as they made it very clear what they thought of the Royal Family (or "institution" as Harry kept calling it), I just don't see why they should still trade off it.

@GiveMeSpanakopita The trouble is you aren't going to shift flower sprinkles in the quantities you need unless they go on everything . Avocado on toast ffs .

🍞+ 🍐= ✔

🍞+ 🍐+ 🌹= ❌

🍞+ 🍐+ wedge 🍋on the side perfectly acceptable.

This is my personal Avocado on toast guide which I am excited to share with you. NB I had no avocados at time of writing so a stunt pear stood in.

It's quite the conjuring trick, isn't it?!