The Jam That Broke the Internet

I didn’t get the jam. That’s not something that would normally disappoint me. But there I was, not typically an eater of jam, feeling quite let down. The email from the As Ever team informed me that I would not, in fact, be receiving the buzzy, new apricot spread from Meghan Markle’s lifestyle line. And I wasn’t alone. I’d checked out in under 10 minutes during As Ever’s second product drop, but within days, like many other purchasers, I got the dreaded notification that the jam wasn’t available “due to high demand,” and a refund was on its way.

My dreams of breakfasts with jam-covered toast and other things you put jam on were dashed, but I also wasn’t surprised. These jams became the stuff of marketing dreams when the Duchess of Sussex started sending out gift boxes to her inner circle in the lead-up to her company launching. Mindy Kaling got the jam! Kris Jenner got the jam! “Who’s going to get the jam next?” had a real moment on social media. When As Ever finally debuted its first products this past April, the raspberry jam, and everything else, sold out in less than an hour.

Building on the popularity of Markle’s Netflix entertaining series, With Love, Meghan, As Ever has seemed so far to be a viral smash. According to The Daily Beast, the line’s virtual shelves have managed to stay fully stocked for only “0.01 percent of the time” since the first drop. But if you were to browse some As Ever headlines, or be brave enough to google “Meghan Markle” and “As Ever,” you might find yourself questioning that success. You’d instead hear from “insiders” that Markle actually is “cooked” because of her brand’s “mishaps” and that her newest product, a rosé, is actually the “nail in the coffin” for her because of “no demand.” But the thing is, I didn’t get the rosé either. It also sold out within minutes.

A beautiful photo of the jam I long to taste.

So you can see why this kind of coverage has me, someone without any jam and without any rosé, scratching my head. From the coveted fruit spreads and wine to the supremely Instagrammable flower sprinkles, it’s obvious there are buyers out there for what Markle is selling. But because the As Ever products consistently go viral and sell out very quickly, I’m supposed to believe that the duchess is a total failure? These clickbait declarations of brand disaster, focused on empire-building and margins and monetization, always contain assurances of Markle’s impending flop. They miss, though, what is really setting As Ever apart: The brand is Meghan Markle on her terms.

In With Love, Meghan, Markle’s skill at entertaining is so breezy and palpable that it makes you start to believe that you too can easily make your own candles or throw together a summer salad with ingredients from your vegetable garden. (Though my wilting lettuce plant on the kitchen counter would argue otherwise.) The best lifestyle doyens have this magical aspirational quality in spades—Martha Stewart of course, and Ina Garten, even Gwyneth Paltrow. When they share little hints of who they might be off screen—like Ina sipping a cocktail, Martha posting a thirst trap before an update on her donkeys, Gwyneth dicing onions in Italian pajamas—it can build connection and drive consumer behavior, a measurable things that Harvard Business Review calls “emotional motivators.”

Markle’s long been a natural in this space, from her pre-royal blog days with The Tig to now on Netflix arranging unruly flowers into an artful tablescape and preparing lavender-scented cooling towels for a post-hike refresh. She has given me things I never knew I needed in my life but have since discovered are absolutely divine. (No matter how many times my spouse says, “Why are we keeping towels in the refrigerator?”)

The wine I was not able to secure before it sold out.

But I also imagine that despite her ease onscreen and craftiness with essential oils, that her move back into the lifestyle arena wasn’t a decision she made lightly. This is a woman who, since bursting onto the international radar eight years ago when her engagement with Prince Harry was announced, has received a genuinely shocking onslaught of negativity from the tabloid press and beyond. You may recall, for instance, when she served avocado on toast to a friend and the British press linked this gesture to perpetuating the scourges of “drought and murder.” It’s no wonder that since she and Harry left the constraints of the British monarchy behind in 2020, Markle has, until recently, shied away from social media, only sharing the occasional peek into her real world.

Since rejoining Instagram at the start of this year, this has seemingly been her posting philosophy—many delicious-looking dishes and gardens and sun-filled afternoons, with infrequent snapshots of her behind-the-scenes work and family lives sprinkled in. As Ever, with all of its luxe, covetable offerings, seems to be a continuation of that ethos. Markle says as much on the brand’s website, describing it as “an extension of how I love.”

The jam that will one day be mine, I’m sure of it.

Whether this translates to simply a niche though viable presence in the market or a Fortune 500 company remains to be seen. For brands so intimately tied to a particular personality, there’s a delicate balancing act to not only generate interest but to also sustain it. People’s interest in the Duchess of Sussex should never be in doubt, and Markle has savvily established As Ever in this light. The duchess is aspirational in the little glimpses she shares but mostly unknowable. And that’s okay. Everyone still wants the jam. Some people get it; some people don’t. Still, we’re all intrigued by the jam.

Exclusivity, right now at least, is a feature of As Ever, and for celebrity-driven brands, that’s often a key differentiator in such an oversaturated market. It certainly seems to be working on me. I like Meghan Markle. I’m rooting for her. My misadventures in procuring the jam have only spurred me on. I’m certain I’ll get that fruity spread one day, even though I’m not sure what I’ll put it on. Probably toast. With flower sprinkles on top.