A few days back I did a live talking about all the reasons this video from Meghan Markle
was cringe to say the least.
So here's the ten minute summary about all the reasons so many people found this message
unsettling despite trying to bring awareness to a real and serious problem.
And what you're going to learn in the next few minutes will help you for your own business
or initiative, such as
- Why your message is always more important than yourself,
- When trying to use humor can backfire, and - The right way to bring awareness to a social
issue
Welcome back, my Body Language Buddies! my name is Jesús Enrique Rosas, I'm the Body
Language Guy, and it would be great if you join us... by just liking this video, subscribing
and hitting that bell.
Let's get down to it!
Meghan created this video to bring awareness to an initiative of her foundation, Archewell,
to help women that have lost their jobs due to COVID.
This is a real and urgent topic because since 2020, millions of women all over the world
have been displaced from their jobs with all the emotional and financial stress that it
implies.
It was Meghan's fortieth birthday, so she came up with the idea of inviting 40 friends
to give 40 minutes of their time to become mentors of these women.
We already know that names like Stella McCartney, Deepak Chopra and Katie Couric are on board
and it all sounds great on paper, but then again... we stumble upon some problems.
And it's the way that she presents the message.
We're talking about emotional and financial stress.
The first thing that should come to mind is empathy, being empathic with those women's
struggles.
And Meghan in her lavish mansion with a huge table and surrounded by luxury brands just
doesn’t cut it.
I'm not saying that she doesn't have the right to make the video inside her home, but even
when she invited Oprah to see her chickens, this looked much more down to earth, more
relatable.
Well, not for us fried chicken lovers, but still,
Meghan tries to bring awareness about financial stress and she does it surrounded by opulence.
That just doesn't make sense.
That looks hypocritical.
So Meghan is shooting herself in the foot ...and through those shoes that absolutely
noone is going to wear at home... and at the same time pretending to be seen a commoner.
So she claims to want a 'normal life' instead of the Pomp and Circumstances of Buckingham
Palace but the image she presents here says otherwise.
It's almost like mocking her own message, and that's something I find baffling.
Because it's obvious that this video was produced by a team that knows what they are doing.
The composition, the camera angles, the lighting... the execution is impeccable.
But makes me wonder, don't you think that a team of professionals would at least suggest
that she is contradicting her message?
One might suppose that a team with Public Relations experience will at least suggest
that this is not the best way to talk about women displaced in the workforce.
It looks like Meghan could have said, "This is the way we're gonna do it, this is the
way how it goes.
My way or the highway".
I've got no other explanation for that.
And what's with all the books used to support things?
It's distracting.
It's like trying to scream that she's a writer.
But what is even more perplexing is that she wants to bring awareness to a serious topic...
but tried to make a funny sketch.
That's why she called Melissa McCarthy for help.
Which leads us to the second issue, that is misusing humor.
There is absolutely no way that this was not intented as a 'funny' sketch.
We listen to music that sounds like a distant cousin of the Benny Hill theme song, and there's
Melissa goofing around.
- Hey Melissa, do you have a...?
It really doesn't matter if you find Melissa McCarthy funny or not.
Just the fact that she's in the video trying to uplift Meghan's cardboard attitude, sets
the tone of the whole piece.
There's nothing wrong to try to approach a serious issue with humor, but if you pretend
to do it in less than two minutes and a half, you're asking too much from anyone.
I understand that Melissa has a background doing stand up comedy, and that's one of the
best ways to train yourself to extract smiles from everyday struggles.
But there is nothing of the sort here.
The main joke, so to speak, is a very odd one about she getting dressed for the ocassion,
and mocking garden party attire and a reference to Meghan's time in the UK.
And again, this is something quite strange.
Meghan implied that she wanted to leave all this Royal life behind, have nothing to do
with them, live an independent life as a normal American family, and the main joke is about
throwing shade on the British Royals?
I'm talking as a communications strategist here.
So far, the atmosphere, the way Meghan is dressed, her attitude and the joke from Melissa
in her garden attire absolutely distracts from what Meghan supposedly wants for her
initiative.
Those are too many contradictions, including the fact that she wanted to show this exchange
as an spontaneous conversation.
And you'll agree with me that it's strange the way that Meghan talks almost without moving.
It's like she's being forced to do this.
This is her initiative, and she's emotionless.
It's quite unsettling, to say the least.
That's why when you add flashing your mansion, your presence, mocking the royals and being
not that invested in the message of your so-called project, then don't be surprised if people
call you a narcissist.
Because if it sounds like a narcissist, acts like a narcissist and makes you think about
narcissists... well, at least I can guarantee you it's not a duck.
I know that Meghan's fans are going to attack me even with all the plain nonsense in her
message.
But just to set the record straight, I'm glad that Meghan invited Melissa.
It could have been worse.
It could have been Ellen.
And despite the claims of some Meghan stans, I'm not a Meghan hater.
I have expressly said in other videos that Meghan has certain qualities like public speaking.
Like in that "Four Fab" video where we got to see her along Kate, William and Harry,
she was the better speaker of the four, and I insist, her skills would have been a great
addition to the foundation.
I give her that.
But then it's even harder to understand how she puts out a video where she throws all
that, out the window.
And you might say, hey, back then, at the fab four video she was just pretending to
be nice.
She was just pretending to be a person that she is not.
And maybe you’re right, but it doesn't have to do anything with all the times she has
at least tried to make herself relatable, or using her public speaking skills.
In fact, narcissists usually become great public speakers, because they love being in
the spotlight, receiving the praise, the applause, etcetera.
Why didn't she use it here?
I have no idea.
If you have an answer to that, I'll be really glad to read it in the comments.
Meghan, if you're watching this, your fancy PR agency sucks.
Fire them ASAP.
And the idea of inviting your 40 already successful friends to donate 40 minutes of their time
to "mentor" jobless women is absolutely tone-deaf.
You deserve someone to go full Gordon Ramsay on you.
You needed to connect with your target audience.
You needed to find 40 women that actually lost their jobs due to the pandemic and managed
to raise above that struggle in different ways.
Provided it wasn't OnlyFans.
Yeah, it might be hard to have to deal with normal people instead of your famous contacts,
but if your friend Oprah sends ONE tweet, you'll get those 40 women in less than 48
hours.
Do I have to think of everything?
seriously?
And for my Beautiful Body Language Buddies, message is always everything.
If you want to raise awareness about one topic, no matter if you want to help your community
or you want to market your business or market your own skills as a freelancer, you don't
really talk about yourself.
You talk to your target audience about them.
About their struggles and how you think there's a way they can get out of it.
You'll be instrumental in that achievement, but your audience, your clients, your community
will be the protagonist at all times.
If you're not aware of this, if you are tone deaf, if you misuse humor, then don't complain
about the consequences.
On the bright side, at least Harry found his balls and he's allowed to play with them.
I've got more videos that you can check now to keep improving your body language skills
to detect hidden intentions.
And don't forget to like, subscribe and hit that bell if you don't want to miss any of
my body language analysis and tips.
Take care, my Body Language Buddies!