Lesson Learned

Meghan and Harry's PR moves collapse in the shadow of Jennifer Garner

An interesting group picture, among the devastation of the wildfires. Getty.

Authenticity. That’s really what these last few days have been about for Meghan and Harry. And their team, along with Meghan and Harry, know that. Our newsletter from last week:

“I often say, Meghan’s biggest problem is authenticity,” the newsletter started. (Quoting a newsletter from December.) Authenticity. That word has popped up a lot this week as Meghan officially returned to Instagram for the first time in years. Sources from Meghan shared with The Telegraph, that her account is where she plans to “authentically share moments of joy and inspiration from her life.” Authentically. There’s that word again.

You will notice from the press coverage of Meghan and Harry’s visit to the disaster areas, their communications team prepared the media well for exactly what they wanted reported. People magazine alternated using “incognito” in describing their visit, “discreet”, they “wore masks” not to be noticed, “low-key” was another word popping up in paid IG posts for them. But, what Meghan and Harry found out, was that by blanketing the media with ridiculous tales, it just backfired.

It reminds me of the DM we posted to stories on IG, with the comment that we were all being “gaslighted” with this sudden onslaught of how wonderful Meghan is, simply because of her show’s upcoming debut. The media coverage of how “low-key” this visit was, gave that same feeling. We have talked about this before, but the PR tactic of first out, first to own the story, is a favorite of Meghan’s. And it doesn’t have to be true. Indeed, it’s usually not. But, that doesn’t matter. The first version in the media is the one with legs and it runs. Staying in the public consciousness the longest. That’s what Meghan and her team were betting on. And if we still didn’t believe it, the Pasadena mayor, Victor Gordo, repeated to news cameras that the couple “were not here for publicity, they came here to work.” Gotcha.