Meghan Markle's Matches? The Brand is Already Struggling

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Megan Marco is selling matches now.

[00:00:04]I have so many questions. Let's get started.

[00:00:13]Hello everyone. I'm Star Chairs and in this channel we analyze everything through the lens of PR and business.

[00:00:19]Okay, so Megan Marco has launched a new product and the new product I mean matches like yeah matches. I'm just thinking like what? This is not a candle innovation, not a new home fragrance system, not beautifully packaged gifting experience that makes you say, "Wow, this brand is becoming even more refined by the moment, by the day, by every single item." No, I feel, and correct me if I'm wrong, but we have reached the Scholastic Bookfare portion of As Ever Plan business plan because it looks like the bookfair in my opinion. When I look at the product page, in fact, let me bring it up for you guys. Maybe maybe I'll change your mind. When I look at this product page, all I can think was this looks like an impulse buy table at the school book fair. You know, the one the table with like scented pencils, tiny little journals, little erasers shaped like cupcakes, dinosaurs, and bookmarks, and the one random item every kid wants, and you want it, too. Yeah, that's what this this whole website, the matches, the bookmarks, everything makes me feel like it's a bookf fair. It does not feel like a hero product. It doesn't even feel like a real product launch whatsoever. It feels like the thing you throw into a bundle because the bundle needs to move. It needs to have more value so people can pick it up. And that's where the business lesson begins.

[00:01:47]At least for me, this is I saw it, I was like, "No way. No freaking way. Like her first problem, are the matches the product or the incentive? Because from what I'm seeing, the matches do not appear to be sold alone. I don't see it anywhere on the website.

[00:02:05]Do you like it's nowhere to be found here? They just seem to have added it to already group products or done more bundles. So, it could be group. If you look at the product page a little bit closer, you'll see that it's a I hate that I have Okay, let me see if I can zoom into here. Oh, no. If you see the product like from here, it looks AI generated like they just AI it and put it into those bundles like they have their own little they have the picture of each candle or each product and then they just group them and said there you go. Here it is. Like it looks very neat. Yes, I like it. But it looks very AI in my opinion. That's just my opinion, guys. Don't come for me. My opinion. Anyways, this tells me one of two things. Either Megan and Ask ever believe these matches are valuable enough to help sell the bundle or they know that the bundles need something extra like a little sprinkle of something because the existing products aren't currently not moving with enough excitement on their own to pay their mortgage.

[00:03:14]And this is where I have to talk about perceived value because in business an add-on can be smart. Absolutely. You know when you check out somewhere there's always like add on this. There's a bonus of this it we can add this for just $15 and you're like yes yes but no this is like an add-on to the product already because for example Megan is selling candles. Adding matches absolutely makes sense. It creates the full ritual. You are not just selling wax in a cup. You're selling the entire moment. Light the candle, pour some tea, sit in your beige Monteito kitchen, pretend your jam is your personality trade. That part I understand abso freakingutely.

[00:03:57]But the issue is that the matchbox itself needs to feel elevated, intentional, premium, collectible. And at this point, it just feels like an afterthought. And I am old enough to say that this looks like something that fell out of a hotel drawer or worse, a gift shop checkout counter. And the second problem in my mind is that luxury brands don't just add things, they curate them.

[00:04:24]This is the biggest business lesson because luxury is not about adding more stuff. When you add more stuff and have like the incentive is because stuff is not selling and that's not luxury.

[00:04:35]Luxury is about making every single thing feel deliberate. It's like when you want to purchase that one thing. And um I'll make an example out of what I buy because usually I'll buy 100% linen or 100% cotton clothes. And if the incentive is I already have the shirt and then they give me 100% linen pants that match that shirt, I'm like abs freaking I will put it in there. You know what I mean? Like a luxury brand can sell you something as an incentive, but it needs to still feel expensive because the product has a story, a reason, a purpose, and a feeling and a feeling attached to it. For me, it's like I want everything to be to be matchy matchy and be 100% breathable.

[00:05:18]But here, the matches here just feel completely random. It just says like, "Here, buy the candle and also here have some matches." No, you're just bundling.

[00:05:29]You should have done this from the very get-go, from the beginning, because bundling to me exposes a much bigger problem. Because when a brand keeps grouping products together, the question becomes, are people buying because they want the items or because the brand keeps trying to make the offer look bigger and better because they cannot sell. There's a huge difference between a beautifully curated gift set and a clearance table strategy. And this is, in my opinion, how it's starting to look like a clearance table. At this point, what is as ever? Honestly, I think she should have just kept everything that had to do with calligraphy, like notebooks, notepads, not pantry items.

[00:06:16]But when it comes to the spread and the jam and everything, it gets harder and it looks like she's desperate. I had recently given it in my last video 12 to 18 months. At this point, seeing that she has added matches to the gift sets, I think she has roughly around 12 months or less in my opinion, my humble opinion because she looks desperate like matchboxes.

[00:06:44]Okay, because as ever, it's starting to feel like that scholastic bookf fair.

[00:06:49]And that is dangerous. When your product lineup feels scattered, customers don't know what to associate with you. And when customers don't know what you are, they don't build a strong buying habit around you. if she would have kept it like calligraphy overall, she still could have sold the candles, she could have sold pants, she could have sold the matches, she could have sold all of that, but people would know, oh, you know what, calligraphy the I want to go with Megan's stuff because Megan's calligraphy um items are really neat and they're really cool and they're really simple and they're really luxurious or whatever. And it would have given people a curiosity angle. Now, I'm not saying that Curiosity is a business model, but Curiosity will get people in the door.

[00:07:34]And I think a calligraphy website would have been much better for her. Now, if you see Megan doing a calligraphy website, you know where she got it from.

[00:07:44]Me.

[00:07:46]Now, the next problem I see is that matches are not a big enough story.

[00:07:52]Like, they're not big enough. How many matches do you have to sell to so to like pay your rent or your mortgage, let alone like pay anything like pay your website fees or your Quickbooks fee or your accountant.

[00:08:05]That's a lot of matches that she has to sell because from a pure perspective, if I look at it through that lens, it's incredibly odd because if you're launching a new product, especially after all the noise around as ever, the product needs to give the media something to talk about. Yes, we're talking about now, but we're talking about it because it doesn't make sense.

[00:08:25]Like, what is the headline? Meghan Markle launches matches.

[00:08:29]That is not a headline. That is a punchline. This is why people are talking about it cuz it's a punchline.

[00:08:35]It's not a headline. And I am sorry, but when your brand has already been criticized for being style over substance, launching matches is probably not the move that proves everybody wrong. Me again. Absolut freakingly not.

[00:08:51]Mm- Like, how is this innovative? Like, is there a demand for matches? Is this going to make her business grow?

[00:08:59]Business website just looks cluttered now. A product launch should answer a customer's need or strengthen the brand identity. This does absolutely neither in a major way unless it's positioned extremely well, but I don't see it. And based on the pa the website page, I do not see the big story here. I just see a blue box of matches standing next to the candles like it showed up late to the group photo. But to be fair, could it be a good business choice from a business standpoint? Yeah, matches do make sense. Absolutely.

[00:09:35]Because she's selling candles and they do fit in the category of candles. So they can increase the perceived value of the bundle. They make the product feel more giftable. They also support the ritual language that Megan loves to use so much. So in theory, this is not the worst idea. The issue is not that the matches don't match. The issue is execution. Because good business is not just what you sell. It is how it fits into the bigger brand story. If as ever launched a candle collection with a beautifully designed matchbox as part of a true home fragrance ritual, that could work. But she should have done everything together. Not this looks like an afterthought. It feels like the matches are just being used to make the bundles look more important, more giftable, more viable. I don't know.

[00:10:30]Like it it feels like an afterthought that I I'm going to stick to that. It feels like an afterthought.

[00:10:37]It does not feel intentional. And I think this is where Megan can learn from Megan herself because honestly she gives hers she gives us so much free business school advice every single week. When you are building a brand especially a premium brand like Megan is trying to and I say that as loosely as possible.

[00:10:57]You cannot just keep adding products and hope that it grows. More products do not automatically mean that you have a strong brand. Sometimes more products make the brand look weaker. And I believe this is what's happening in Megan's case because if your audience cannot understand the purpose behind each launch, they start to feel like you're just throwing things to the wall.

[00:11:21]And I've said this in my channel over and over again. It's Megan is just throwing spaghetti at the wall. And at this point, it's it's just starting to look like the brand is panicking like just want to put stuff. So, you put stuff in your cart and check out because a strong product expansion should make the customer think, "Of course, they had to launch that. That makes perfect sense. I cannot wait to buy it." But when the customer thinks matches, okay, like who uses matches nowadays?

[00:11:55]That right there is a brand clarity problem. likem it feels super super small. Like she wanted to use the smallest amount of investment to get people to purchase. That is the biggest PR issue because matches are small. Not physically, obviously. They're not like small. They look like they're big. But for someone who has positioned herself as a global elevated luxury adjacent lifestyle founder, launching matches as the new thing feels super underwhelming and it does not scream visionary founder or like flounder. Yep, it really does whisper we needed something else so these bundles can sell so our products can sell and they will not expire. like they need that warehouse to just move. And if somebody's asking like, "Star, why does this matter?" Oh my goodness, it matters so much because Megan's brand does not exist in silence. Everything she launches comes with a baggage, criticism, media attention, and expectations. And with someone with so much opportunity, she's failing so extraordinary. And the thing is, Megan has been trying to sell us from the beginning elevated lifestyle empire. But to me, it really feels like school fair table at the library. The scholastic bookf fair effect. Yeah, that's what I'm going to call it. And that's what as ever product page feels to me.

[00:13:24]Everything is bundled. Everything is styled. Everything is beige, soft, delicate, and curated. But underneath the presentation, you have to ask what is the actual value of all of this?

[00:13:36]What? Why am I buying this? Because I'm a Megan fan or because I need a candle?

[00:13:40]Cuz I can buy a candle anywhere else. My gosh, even Walmart has elevated candles?

[00:13:46]And a lot of people like myself don't buy candles anymore because of the chemicals. And I say chemicals very loosely because everything has chemicals nowadays, right? But if you watch what you burn at your house, what you bring into your house, if you're that person trying to bring in less chemicals into your house, you're not going to be buying candles. candles is the last thing anybody needs. And matches, how many people are coming back to ever because they need matches. A box of matches last me at least a year. So anyways, we'll stop here cuz I can rant all about this on and on because the matchbox, is it a good PR and business choice? It could have been in my opinion, but in the beginning, but based on what I'm seeing, it feels less like a strong product launch and more like a bundle accessory trying to sell you things. And that is the lesson here.

[00:14:39]Small products can be powerful when they make a brand clearer. But small products can also make a brand look desperate.

[00:14:48]Like we're seeing here, it just looks random, unnecessary, and desperate. And this is why as ever Megan keeps running into trouble because the brand that she's building, she's trying to build it under the luxury brand name like an like everything you need here is luxury. You don't really need it, but you want it.

[00:15:09]No, we don't. No, we don't. We don't want it. The pricing alone is luxury pricing, but the strategy keeps feeling like a gift basket assembled in 5 minutes before the party in the back. So maybe the real question is not whether Megan launched a good product. Maybe the real question is is ass ever building a lifestyle brand or is it slowly turning into a Monteito version of a Scholastic Bookfare?

[00:15:35]Because at this point I'm just waiting for the scented bookmarks and the journals. But guys, that is just my opinion. Let me know what you think. Are the matches a smart little add-on or is it another example as of as us ever trying to make a basic product feel elevated?

[00:15:53]Let me know in the comment section below. Guys, thank you very much for watching and if you can please type my video so we can reach more people and don't forget to subscribe before you leave so I can see you in the next video. Bye.