As ever and PR disasters continued

[AtIusvue]

So Meghan lost her fathers number but is ringing round hospitals and will send a handwritten note, as per Sussex sources speaking through the Sun, the Telegraph and the Times.

I mean I have no idea, how it works with PR for very famous people, but surely there are scenarios they prep for?

Her dad is in his 80s, severely obese and has suffered ill health for years. You would think, there would be protocol in what to do should the worst happen.

That would include having up to date contact info. This isn’t something Meg would need to have/get involved with if she’s estranged, but surely ‘The Office of the DDOS’ would. Then engage in their set plan- whether that’s a public statement that this is a private affair or that contact has been made through the proper channels.

Whatever this is, it isn’t professional-it’s complete chaos.

They need these “people “ because they can’t role play “royalty “ without staff to order about and shout at , it’s purely ego .

They can't all be 'bad at their jobs' though, can they? That would be extraordinarily bad luck. That said, at this stage I highly doubt the Sussexes are in a position to attract the best in the business. Who would want to work for them now, especially as I doubt they pay top salaries?

It's also unclear what their 'jobs' are since, as I said above, the Sussexes don't do much of anything. You don't need a 'Chief of Staff' or 'Global Communications Officer' to flog jam spread or set up speaking gigs with Canadian property agents.

Yeah they aren't bad at their jobs. Mind you I increasingly wonder why they accept the job. I'd be embarrassed to be called global anything for a couple who do very very little.

Spot on as usual, jeff

There's also the point that, without someone else being there to take the blame, they might just have to look closer to home and I doubt that would suit

I increasingly wonder why they accept the job

Edited to add you and me both, @MrsLeonFarrell
I guess there was a time when the job would have added lustre to a CV, but how anyone could think that any more is beyond me - unless they feel it shows an ability to keep smiling against fearful odds

Same to you puzzled 👍,Harry has never been held accountable in his life, everyone has smoothed his way , covered up or waved away any infractions .
meghan is a different breed altogether, she didn’t grow up with “staff” to do her bidding but clearly as a person with delusions of self grandiosity and bullying tendencies, whole heartedly embraced the concept!!!

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-pr-job-prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-cant-seem-to-keep-filled/

‘It remains unclear whether Maines will be replaced or whether the couple will lean more heavily on their U.K. operation, headed by Harry’s longtime ally and spokesperson, Liam Maguire.’

Well considering how awful Harry’s reputation is and how quickly it plummeted, Liam Maguire has not done much of a job either.

This should be fun to watch unfold.

Re the Jam spread.

When I was a kid way back in the day, my granny made jam. Proper stuff. But when that ran out, proper jam was actually a bit of a luxury at times, and we used to get "raspberry Jelly" from the co-op, cos it was cheaper.

Is raspberry jelly still a thing ?

Cos if it is, why is it a spread, and not a jelly ?

Or does it not make the grade to be called raspberry jelly ?

Or is jam that is not jammy enough to be called jam called preserve now ?

So many questions about Jam/Jelly/ Preserve/ Spread. I can see I need to do some research on what the differences are. This one below looks like jam, but it's called a preserve.

:-)

As said upthread, @Thedom, I wouldn't give Liam Maguire much longer either

It's surely no coincidence that all these staff have left when H&M are getting blasted in the media (someone else to blame, rather than accept much of the blasting is justified ...) and at this rate they'll be doing it all themselves

At least then they could claim even the PR is "driven by compassion", which will also be amusing to see

Just for you, @RedTagAlan ... it doesn't mention "spreads" but at least includes the others

https://boddingtonspreserves.co.uk/blogs/news/what-is-the-difference-between-jam-conserve-and-jelly?srsltid=AfmBOorFzQm4lYCC1dIDYuGvZDk6nOZpw67OvP3BtuOomot84Nrpso8m

Most excellent. Thanks very much. And here it is, quote : This is why lower-sugar products often can’t legally be called jelly and are instead labelled as ‘fruit spreads’."

Right, so Jam and Jellies are both about 60% fruit (or juice), so the next step of my jam spread journey is to get the ingredients label for their jam spread.

Is it a spread because of fruit or sugar content ?

:-)

I thought jam was whole fruit boiled with sugar ( and pectin depending on the fruit) , jelly was sieved ( so clear no pips ) and spread didn’t have enough sugar or fruit to be classed as either?

When As Ever products were first released, someone (possibly @BemusedAmerican) linked to the US FDA regulations for jams/spreads.

Meghan's products had too little sugar (in proportion to the amount of fruit) to be called jam, so had to be called spread.

If she'd been in the UK, or been more on top of marketing, she could probably have spun them as a healthier option.

Yup. I am off on my jam spread journey, so don't mind me :-)

Ohh. Now this is interesting.

Revealed: Meghan's £6.50-a-jar 'crafted' raspberry jam is made on an industrial estate 2,000 miles from Montecito - Royal News (royalnewsuk.com)

We know about the factory of course, but check this:

Quote: " Additionally the factory makes a ‘strawberry and wild rose’ preserve as part of a tie-up with Bridgerton – the hit series set in Regency England made by Netflix, with whom the Sussexes also have a deal."

Wow. So they never even sourced the factory. Netflix already dealt with them.

What do they actually do ? Everything is being handed to them on a plate, for their sticky fingers to pick up. (insert FFS here if ok).

The spread is looking to be high fruit, low sugar, so not jam.

But come on. They were doing stuff with Netflix, and just by coincidence they decided to do a jam spread, made by the very same company that already makes a jam/preserve/jelly that they flog off the back of a Netflix show... about Duchesses .

Wow.

To add to my above post, sorry I don't have Netflix, so I don't know what their shows are about.

Is this the Netflix Bridgerton jam spread ?

Bridgerton x Williams Sonoma Strawberry Vanilla Fruit Spread | Williams Sonoma (williams-sonoma.com)

It seems Williams Sonoma and Netflix are both share the same biggest shareholder. The Vanguard group. WS is 12.7% Vanguard, NF 8.5%.

Is it possible that Netflix was keen to get back some of their investment ?

Anyway, the company that makes the jam spread, The Republic of tea, also dabbled in:

THE REPUBLIC OF TEA DEBUTS LIMITED EDITION DOWNTON ABBEY® (globenewswire.com)

No tin foil hat here, but it is looking like the jam spread thing was not actually Meghan's idea. Just a name tagged on ?

Edit to add, a name tagged onto an existing supply chain of course. It seems all was in place for the jam spread business leader.

Not jam again 😂😂😂

I suspect it's a carrot he dangles.

Is it possible that Netflix was keen to get back some of their investment ?

I really don't think NF care about 'As Ever'. Any profits from the 'spread' would be pidding in the context of their billion dollar business. Yes, they were a 'silent investor' but that seems low commitment to me. They probably have investments in all sorts of things.

The fact that all 3 of the 'WLM' 'series', including the Xmas special, were filmed in one go, well over a year ago, strongly suggests that they had already decided to cut their losses back then.

Mind you I increasingly wonder why they accept the job.

I also wonder what 'the job' actually involves.

If Meredith was hired to do the PR for 'Archewell' why is she having to come up with clap back stories about the Kardashian party silliness, for example? Is her job to handle the 'Archewell' PR or do crisis management for Harry and Meghan's obsession with their public image?

That's an interesting question. I'm not really sure what she is supposed to do, I'm not really very knowledgeable about PR and the poster who seemed to be an expert hasn't been around recently.

It can't just be clapping back at stories surely? That seems to be like wrestling with a pig.

Maybe that poster was Meredith!!!

Is her job to handle the 'Archewell' PR or do crisis management for Harry and Meghan's obsession with their public image?

I'm not even sure what the difference is, @IcedPurple, given that Archewell doesn't appear to have done anything of note - and in its "philanthropies" guise will probably do even less

Ii seems to me the whole thing has been a vehicle for their own vanity (and grifting of course) from the start

I have a fixation ok :-)

It's actually because the country I live in has very restricted internet, and jam spread does not appear to be "sensitive". So I can do the jam spread stuff.

The Daily Mail is banned here. That's maybe a benefit .

:-)

Meredith was CCO of Archewell, but also CCO of As ever and in charge of the couples public image. She was in charge of everythjng basically, not just Archewell.

Indeed! That poster - where is she? She certainly seemed to believe a reconciliation was going to happen!