Critics have slammed Meghan Markle for transitioning from political aspirations to gifting jars of jam to friends. Meghan Markle recently launched a new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, providing a glimpse of forthcoming products by sending 50 influencers a jar of strawberry jam last week. Among the recipients were Meghan's former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, designer Tracer Robbins, and socialite Kris Jenner.
US-based royal commentator Lee Cohen, speaking to GB News, criticized Meghan for what he described as a frivolous gesture, particularly given her prior aspirations in the political arena. Mr. Cohen said, "The tone-deafness is deafening, especially from a person who had serious ambitions to be an influential world leader, to now be sending her gal-pals jam for social media snaps."
Referring to Meghan's latest business ventures as out of touch, Mr. Cohen added, "This is so monumentally eye-rolling, even for Meghan. When I first became aware of this, I thought that 'Jumate' was something the cartoon series South Park came up with to ridicule The Duchess of Sussex."
Again, Meghan sent jars of strawberry jam in a basket of lemons to a select group of 50 people. However, at least two of the 50 had their labels fall off, which is why they couldn't post anything to social media. At least one of the 50 was returned because they didn't want to post anything and weren't asked in advance. They were being pressured to post about something they didn't want to do. They tried to get an address to return it to, and no one was getting back to them or taking their calls, so they just sent it to the agent's office, where it sat on someone's desk for several days.
"It's bad manners to send a person a gift and ask for something in return, pressuring them to post about it on social media," said Mr. Cohen.
For example, Meghan recently faced online criticism after sending a gift basket to Kris Jenner. The basket included American Riviera Orchard jam, lemons, plants, and a handwritten letter. However, the presentation of the gift sparked outrage among fans. Many believe that Meghan is desperately trying to cozy up to the Kardashians to help boost her celebrity profile. One commented, "This very much is the girl in middle school handing out party invites and making sure everyone knows who's in and who's out."
"I kind of laugh at these efforts because the people on the receiving end probably receive stuff like this from so many people trying to get their businesses off the ground," another critic wrote.
Along with this marketing campaign, Shaw has the feel of these jam recipients trolling Meghan Markle, first tagging with the best Kim K or Ray J impression of eating toast, now Kris Jenner with those beautiful bouquet, followed by the old lemons and Meghan's junior high-looking cursive note. Oh, and the jam with no ingredients listed.
Another critic wrote, "Desperate times cause desperate measures," and all it says is 'thank you,' nothing more, not a picture of Jenner, no taste testing. It's too funny."
And then there was this comment as well, "We'd love to know who is manufacturing the jam for her. I'm not sure I'd want the test run batch though. I also would like to know who made it, hopefully it's at least sealed."
