It's nice to be back, after four days advising a client in beautiful Poland (what I notice increasingly about developing capitalist economies in Eastern Europe is the sense of optimism, energy and joy people seem to have about the bright future of their country - contrasts a lot with people I work with in Germany and UK - but that's another view for other threads).
If we were to do a deeper analysis of the baby bump video, I suppose we could consider what the PR objective was in releasing this particular video, at this particular point in time. My approach to this business is that you should always have a strategic objective behind any particular piece of PR - you need to know exactly what audience you're trying to speak to, and what exactly you're seeking to achieve in terms of your longer term career objectives. Without that strategy underpinning everything, it's all just chaotic and useless. I'm going to be generous and assume that Meghan's PR advisers also follow this protocol - it's fairly well established thinking in the comms world, and Sunshine Sachs and Jason Knauf certainly work to this framework.
So what might have been the objective here? We know that Meghan has a habit of 'clapping back' at online critics - for example, her video with Gwyneth Paltrow was clearly designed to clap back at online rumours that Gwyneth disliked her.
In the case of the baby bump video, I don't think it's unreasonable to theorise that Meghan's decision to release it, now, is a clap back to the long-standing conspiracy theory that she had her children by surrogate, rumours which have gained new currency and energy in the past few weeks.
However, as anyone who's been pregnant or seen a pregnant woman will be aware, the twerking video does NOT scotch the surrogate conspiracy theory - in fact it rather adds fuel to that fire, for reasons which are obvious to any person who has eyes. Meghan is not a stupid woman, and she will of course know this.
So I think we have here: a clapback against a certain rumour using a video that is designed to pour more fuel on the fire of the rumours. In other words, Meghan is trolling her critics.
There are a number of influencers whose fame is based on little more than their ability to irritate people online. It's known as 'hate watching' and is a phenomenon specific to the social media age. The influencer and their audience is locked in a toxic dyad of contempt and deliberate aggravation.
It's definitely a way to stay famous. But it quickly becomes a tawdry sort of fame. It certainly does not provide the basis for good quality corporate sponsorships, humanitarian gravitas, or big mainstream media opportunities. Meghan will know this.
So in conclusion I think this video suggests to us that Meghan has given up on the idea of mainstream 'respectable' fame and humanitarian gravitas, and is instead acknowledging and accepting that her main form of fame now will come from winding up 'the haters'.
Where this leaves the joint Sussex brand, or their opportunities to make meaningful money, I don't know. But, given that this type of influencing rarely offers decent financial opportunities, I'd say it's not looking good.