Meghan Markle is jamming the brakes on "American Riviera Orchard" and making a U-turn with a "timeless" new name for her lifestyle brand: "As Ever." But is this rebranding good business...or a sign of desperation?
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00:00Cat's out of the bag. I'm shocked we've kept this a secret for so long."
00:03Meghan Markle is jamming the brakes on American Riviera Orchard.
00:07I think we're all clear at this point that jam is my jam."
00:10And making a U-turn with a timeless new name for her lifestyle brand, As Ever.
00:15"'As Ever' essentially means, as it's always been. And if you've followed me since 2014
00:21with the TIG, you know I've always loved cooking and crafting and gardening."
00:24American Riviera Orchard had a short but sweet life as, well,
00:28just this. A few jars of jam sent out to her famous friends in March 2024.
00:33But the duchess apparently couldn't see the forest for the trees.
00:37"'It's my neighborhood. It's a nickname for Santa Barbara.
00:40But it limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area.'"
00:46Not mentioned by Meghan? The trademark application for American Riviera Orchard
00:50was rejected in August by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,
00:54forcing her to ask for an extension. And now, it's clear that course of action was fruitless.
00:59The former suit star is clearly hoping for a more
01:02happily-ever-after ending for As Ever, which is also a partnership with her streaming sugar daddy,
01:07DuJour.
01:08"'And Netflix came on not just as my partner in the show, but as my partner in my business,
01:15which was huge.'"
01:16After a delayed launch in the wake of the California wildfires,
01:20Netflix is finally launching With Love, Meghan next month,
01:23a recipe-free cooking show filmed not far from Meghan and Harry's mansion.
01:28"'Love is in the detail.'"
01:29And the streamer is also backing Meghan's brand by stocking it at planned Netflix
01:34House stores in two mega-malls outside Dallas and Philadelphia, according to the Daily Mail,
01:39which also revealed that the As Ever line will also include candles, napkins,
01:44beauty products, chef's knives, and even gardening gear, in addition to those precious preserves.
01:49Meghan announced the Jarring Jam brand revamp on Instagram on Monday,
01:54with Prince Harry manning the camera.
01:56"'It's recording.'"
01:57"'Okay.'"
01:57Princess Lilibet even got involved. There she is with her mom, and mom's new logo,
02:02a palm tree flanked by hummingbirds, which holds special meaning to her birdwatcher hubby, Harry.
02:08"'Papa is a birdwatcher, so this is a really big moment for me.'"
02:15Following Meghan's failure to launch American Riviera Orchard,
02:18and now this hasty rebrand, branding experts aren't sugarcoating it.
02:22One marketing guru told the Daily Beast that the switch signals inauthenticity,
02:27adding,
02:28"'You wouldn't catch Kim Kardashian doing this.'"
02:30Another source cautioned,
02:32"'There are only so many relaunches you can do before you start to look ridiculous.'"
02:36And there's evidence that the rebrand announcement video was indeed last minute.
02:40The Daily Mail reports that internet sleuths found the As Ever Shopify page
02:45the night before Meghan made her video, possibly forcing her hand.
02:49One PR expert, however, thinks the As Ever rebrand might just be a brilliant publicity stunt.
02:55Actually, telling the Daily Mail,
02:57"'This isn't an identity crisis. It's a business model.
03:00The perpetual reinvention. The strategic vagueness. It's all by design.'"
03:05Meghan may have been hinting about the name change for weeks now.
03:08As Ever Meghan is how the millennial signs her Instagram post
03:11after relaunching herself on the platform on New Year's Day.
03:15The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle's Instagram account has been
03:19replaced by a new account.
03:20The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle's Instagram account has been replaced by a new
03:23account.
03:23The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle's Instagram account has been replaced by a new
03:26account.
03:26The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle's Instagram account has been replaced by a new
03:28account.
03:28The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle's Instagram account has been replaced by a new
03:30account.
03:30The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle's Instagram account has been replaced by a new
03:32account.
03:32The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle's Instagram account has been replaced by a new
03:34account.
03:34The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle's Instagram account has been replaced by a new
03:36account.
03:36The Daily Mail reports that Meghan Markle's Instagram account has been replaced by a new
03:38account.