Meghan Markle exposed for ‘calculated and strategic move’ to generate headlines… but hey, it worked!

For a show that’s earned a critical pounding and hardly shook up the streaming charts, With Love, Meghan sure has been talked about online an awful lot. Part of that is thanks to a viral moment from Meghan Markle‘s new Netflix cooking show in which she makes the surprise revelation that she doesn’t like being called Meghan Markle.

“It’s so funny you keep saying Meghan Markle,” she says to celebrity pal Mindy Kaling, during one segment. “You know, I’m Sussex now.” The duchess goes on to explain how it’s important to her that she shares a surname with her husband, Harry, and their children, Prince Archie (5) and Princess Lilibet (3). Aside from the big revelation, this clip has also gone viral for Kaling’s humorous reaction — she appears non-plussed at being told off by her friend on camera.

All might not be what it seems, however, as the odds are that this apparently off-the-cuff moment may have been manufactured by Meghan in order to drum up as much attention as possible. And, you know what, who can blame her?

With Love, Meghan‘s viral moment was not as spontaneous as it seemed

Thought that exchange between Meghan and Mindy was genuinely spontaneous? Then clearly you’ve never seen any reality TV before. As one PR expert assessed, Meghan’s big “don’t call me Markle” moment was a “calculated” move in order to get people posting about her show online. And you have to hand it to her, it worked!

“Meghan’s moment with Mindy Kaling wasn’t just a random moment, it was a calculated and strategic move to spark discussion and generate buzz around With Love, Meghan,” James Holton, a consumer behavior and social media expert at GrowthScribe (via Express). “In today’s digital landscape, viral moments like these are deliberate yet powerful tools to drive engagement.”

Holton claimed that Meghan’s very much borrowing from the tried-and-trusted “Kardashian Playbook” here as her team would’ve been all over milking this moment for all it was worth, both in terms of getting people tweeting and posting on social media and earning headlines across online media.

“This definitely mirrors the Kardashian Playbook, where they stay relevant through carefully crafted media moments,” he continued. “Similarly, Meghan’s team manufactured publicity through well-timed Mindy Kaling controversy, fueling instant debates online and generating millions of impressions, increasing the show’s visibility. It was carefully calculated to generate headlines worldwide and it did.”

No one who’s actually watched With Love, Meghan will likely be shocked or offended to find out it’s not an honest, uncut depiction of her home life — the show isn’t even filmed in her actual house! — as it’s very clearly a manufactured product from top to bottom, The best way to view it is not so much as a TV series but as just one part of Meghan’s new strategy to use the constant discourse machine that is the internet to her advantage for once and help her rebrand her image. And what better way to do that then literally rebrand herself with a new name? Whether anyone will ever actually call her “Meghan Sussex” is a different question, though.