Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand is facing major hiccups leading up to its launch. As Ever, originally known as American Riviera Orchard, will coincide with the release of “With Love, Meghan.”
Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand As Ever is facing major scrutiny before it’s even launched.
Xisca Mora, the mayor of the Mallorcan town of Porreres in Spain, is reportedly considering legal action after she claimed the Duchess of Sussex’s brand logo is “an exact copy” of their historic coat of arms.
The logo for the 43-year-old’s lifestyle brand, As Ever, is featured on its website. It highlights a black and white palm tree in the center flanked by two hummingbirds.
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The coat of arms for Porreres, which dates back to 1370, features a colorful palm tree, also in the center, with two birds flying towards it.
Fox News Digital reached out to Mora’s office and a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for comment.
“At this point, it is becoming a comedy of errors and, thus far, they are entirely self-inflicted, unforced errors – I say that objectively, as someone simply calling balls and strikes,” Doug Eldridge, a branding expert and the founder of Achilles PR, told Fox News Digital.
“Despite all of her PR liabilities and critics, Meghan still maintains a stockpile of strengths, yet none of those have been deployed to her advantage.”
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams called the situation “hilarious.”
“The logo is very similar,” Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital. “It was surely the responsibility of Meghan and her team to make sure this sort of mess did not happen. If Porreres sues, it will make them a laughingstock.”
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Eldridge compared the situation to an episode from “The Office.”
“Pam holds up two identical photos and said, ‘Corporate says you need to find the differences in these two pictures… they’re the same picture,’” he said.
“In Meghan’s case, the similarities to the formal crest of Porreres are not based on a generic ‘90s-era, clipart overlap; the town dates back to Roman occupation and was only reclaimed by Spain in 1300. Given its more than 1,000-year history, even an AI-generated search algorithm would likely have discovered the overlap.”
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Local newspaper Ara Balears reported on Tuesday that Mora is “studying the case with the legal services of the Consistory to see what course of action should be taken from the municipal level.”
Mora admitted to MailOnline that she thought it was “fake news at first.” She also pointed out to the outlet that the similarities between both the logo and coat of arms are “undeniable.”
“They are the same, except the birds are a little different, and they used different colors, but they are nearly identical,” Mora claimed. “… We really want them to change the logo because our coat of arms is very special to our culture and has been linked to our town since it was founded hundreds of years ago.”
“Every single town in Mallorca has its own symbol or coat of arms, and it is very important to our identity, and people are upset that ours is being used to sell products like jam around the world,” she told the outlet. “The truth is that although this has given our once-unknown town some publicity in just a few hours, we don’t like our coat of arms being used, we want them to pull the logo.”
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that while the As Ever logo “does bear a strong resemblance” to the coat of arms, she also shared that “there is nothing outstanding about a palm tree and two birds.”
“There must be loads of similar-looking logos out there that haven’t been trademarked,” said Chard. “[However], you would think the professionals overseeing Meghan’s logo design and trademark would have cleared any possible hiccups, more so as Meghan has endured many previous hiccups.”
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The logo’s imagery does hold special meaning for the former American actress.
Fox News Digital learned that the palm tree is a nod to the Duke and Duchess’s home in California where they are raising their two young children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3. The “Suits” alum was also born in California.
The hummingbirds, which are found in the state, are said to be a favorite of Prince Harry’s. It’s also understood that the distinct shape enclosing the birds and the tree were designed to create a personal emblem. Fox News Digital understands that global searches for registered trademarks were conducted.
The hummingbird also played a prominent role in Harry’s memoir “Spare.”
In his book, the prince described seeing one at his Montecito home after the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, People magazine reported. The outlet also pointed out that hummingbirds are seen in a heartfelt scene involving Archie in the Netflix docuseries “Harry & Meghan,” which came out in 2022.
Still, Eldridge said he was surprised by what he claimed was “a surprising failure” of the logos appearing too similar to each other.
“Her media ecosystem, much less, her erstwhile connection to the royal family, afforded her the best counsel money could buy,” he explained. “I don’t pin this on Meghan; you have to designate, then delegate.”
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“By the same token, sometimes obstacles create opportunity, and I hope Meghan pivots, puts some cardboard under the tires and slowly steers out of the muddy ditch she has repeatedly slid into,” he said. “She can still correct this, but the ruts are getting deeper, the skies are getting darker, and the public needle is quickly dipping in the red.”
This isn’t the only branding snafu the duchess is experiencing as she also gears up to launch her lifestyle series, “With Love, Meghan,” on March 4.
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A New York City-based clothing line, As Ever, had to address the confusion over their names on social media.
“I want to say thank you to all the old friends who know and love our small family brand As Ever, and also say hi to all those that have just become aware we exist,” founder Mark Kolski wrote on Instagram.
“In the last 36 hours there has been an outpouring of support and concern regarding recent events around our namesake brand,” the statement read. “We are aware. We are not affiliated.”
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“We are grateful for all the customers coast to coast and worldwide that have supported our venture. We will continue As Ever,” the statement concluded.
While Kolski launched his business in 2017, the label had been in the works since 2015.
In a video announcing the rebranding, Meghan said she secured the name As Ever in 2022.
Fox News Digital understands that As Ever, which is supposed to be an extension of Meghan’s past lifestyle blog The Tig, will not be designing clothing.
“As Ever essentially means as it’s always been, and if you’ve followed me since 2014 with The Tig, you know I’ve always loved cooking and crafting and gardening — this is what I do,” she said. “And I haven’t been able to share it with you in the same way for the past few years, but now I can, so as things are starting to trickle out there, I wanted you to hear it from me first.”
Kolski told The Sun he’s refusing to change his company’s name and is “exploring all possibilities.”
“I’m a very small business, it’s a family-run operation,” he told the outlet. “I’m essentially a one-man band. This new venture has the power and money of Netflix behind it. Even if I wanted to do something, I don’t think I have the behemoth of lawyers and money that are behind this.”
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Kolski admitted to the outlet that he doesn’t own the trademark to the name. However, he believes he has common law rights to sell clothing using it because he has been doing business with the name “As Ever” since 2017.
Fox News Digital reached out to Kolski for comment.
Eldridge suspects that Meghan may face more obstacles leading up to the brand’s launch.
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“Meghan is now like the ant who gets burned by a second-grader with a magnifying glass — everything she does moving forward will be under intense scrutiny, and she’s already been burned once; now, she’s feeling the heat for a second time,” he explained.
“At a certain point, the ant will run for cover; I think Meghan has more moxie and a tougher mental makeup than that, but repeated errors eventually run their course. She came into this brand with a divisive following… If she were a cat — instead of an ant — she would be nearing her ‘ninth life’ in terms of brand relevance, traction, and any chance for long-term success.”
The official launch of the brand will coincide with the release of Meghan’s Netflix show. The series was postponed due to the Los Angeles fires.
Sources recently told the U.K.’s DailyMail that the streaming giant is gearing up to roll out the red carpet by offering products supporting Meghan’s brand at their merchandise store.
While Meghan recently made her return to social media after a five-year-hiatus, the Duchess of Sussex has been signing off her posts with “As Ever, Meghan.”