AS EVER, NOTHING: The Meghan Markle Rebrand That Just... Isn’t
By a Woman Who Still Remembers When Jam Was Just for Toast
LOS ANGELES, JUNE 2025 — You can feel it before you even click. The muted florals. The slightly washed-out filters. The lowercase captions. Another “soft launch” from Meghan Markle — this time under the breathy, wistful title of As Ever.
What is it? A lifestyle brand. Supposedly. There's jam. Or there was. Briefly. There's a rumor about a tea set. Some crystal-clear glassware. Nothing with a price tag. Nothing with a call-to-action. Just vibes, and the kind of quiet luxury that says, “I’m not selling anything, I’m just letting you feel inferior in peace.”
Once Upon a Time, She Was the Main Character
Let’s rewind. Remember 2018 Meghan? Global headlines. The dress. The chapel. That moment. She was the breakout star of the Firm, a millennial fairy tale with a feminist arc.
But fast forward to now, and the energy has shifted. Drastically. She’s no longer the Hollywood princess or the royal disruptor. She’s the founder of a lifestyle brand that no one can define — including her.
This is not a takedown. This is a cultural postmortem.
The Great Jam Pause of 2025
Earlier this month, Meghan’s team confirmed they were pausing the restock of the As Ever jam and herbal teas. The reason? They want everything to be “completely ready.” Which is PR-speak for “we’re not ready, but let’s make it sound intentional.”
The jam drop — if you can even call it that — involved about 50 influencers and a few jars of strawberry spread that probably cost $42 to ship and another $12 to photograph. For a woman who once stood on a royal balcony with the Queen of England, this isn’t just a downgrade. It’s a detour into irrelevance.
You know what's completely ready, Meghan? The public. For something real.
Branding by Moodboard: The Aesthetic to Strategy Pipeline
As Ever is not a brand. It’s an idea. A fleeting Pinterest pinboard with no category. The name evokes a sign-off from a Jane Austen letter, and the branding matches: candlelit, soft-focus, emotionally unavailable.
There’s no mission. No clarity. No market. As we’ve said before, it could have been something bold. Something visionary. But what we got is the visual equivalent of a sigh.
Archetypes, Netflix, Spotify: The Ghosts of Brands Past
Meghan’s failed ventures now read like a deleted apps folder. Archetypes — a podcast that promised “important conversations” and delivered all the charisma of a LinkedIn webinar. A Netflix docuseries that fizzled faster than a glass of flat champagne. A Spotify deal that vanished before you could even say “algorithm.”
Every project starts with a declaration of purpose. A mission to empower women, uplift stories, change narratives. But what comes next? A highly curated product drop or a ghosted Instagram account.
It’s the kind of pattern that makes you nostalgic for the Kardashian hustle. At least when they brand something, they sell it.
Harry’s Still Doing the Work. Meghan’s Still in Draft Mode.
While Meghan was workshopping font sizes for her jam labels, Prince Harry has been busy. He’s faced the press. Released a memoir. Landed on late-night talk shows. Say what you will about Spare, but at least he shipped it.
Meghan? She’s still in pre-production. Always almost-launching. Always polishing. Always “coming soon.”
And to be fair — perfectionism is a kind of poison. But in branding? It’s paralysis. Especially when the only thing you’ve produced in five years is a monogram and an embargoed jar of jam.
Let’s Call This What It Is: A Career Stall Wrapped in Linen
At its core, As Ever isn’t a brand. It’s a placeholder. A beautifully lit, thoughtfully worded, cryptically branded stall-out.
Meghan Markle isn’t suffering from a lack of opportunity. She’s suffering from an overabundance of options and a refusal to choose one. Is she a media personality? A home goods curator? A writer? An actress? A Duchess? A California Girl with a Cause?
Right now, she’s a ghost in a sunhat, haunting her own brand deck.
Nostalgia Marketing Doesn’t Work Without the Work
The aesthetic says Nora Ephron meets heritage garden party. The messaging says absent founder energy. And the results say this will never scale.
The only thing she’s selling is air. And the longer this soft-focus limbo continues, the more people stop caring.
You can’t nostalgia-market your way into cultural relevance if there’s no content. No narrative. No why.
As Ever Could Have Been a Movement. Instead, It’s a Mood.
Let’s dream a little.
As Ever could have been a digital magazine. A platform for female founders. A home goods line that actually prioritized ethical production and bold design. A TED Talk. A recipe book. A skincare collab. Hell, even a cooking show.
Instead, it's giving very "in progress" for someone who had five uninterrupted years of brand runway.
And now? It might be too late. The window is closing. Not because the public is cruel — but because we’ve seen this film before. And frankly, the third act is starting to drag.
Final Thoughts from the 90s Girl in the Back Row
If this were 1996, I’d fax this to my editor at Harper’s Bazaar and smoke a cigarette over my keyboard. I’d be wearing sunglasses indoors, wondering why someone with this much power, this much platform, this much cultural real estate — is choosing to lease it to indecision.
Because here’s the truth: Meghan Markle isn’t failing because she’s been attacked. She’s failing because she hasn’t picked a lane.
And As Ever? As ever, it’s nothing.
