The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, has once again found herself at the center of intense international criticism and mockery. The latest product launch for her lifestyle brand, “As Ever,” has quickly spiraled into a public relations disaster after eagle-eyed onlookers spotted a series of glaring errors in the official promotional imagery.

On Thursday, Meghan Markle officially announced the latest product update for her brand, As Ever. This release introduced five new product bundles that combine various scented candles already available for purchase on her official website. To incentivize buyers, the Duchess implemented a promotional tactic: offering a free matchbox to any customer purchasing one of these new bundles. However, this marketing move was instantly seen through by fans, who mocked her perceived “generosity,” pointing out that these bundles offer no additional discount or savings for the consumer.

The real wave of public backlash erupted when the official promotional photos for the launch were made public. Featuring the branded matchboxes and several of the scented candles, the images were immediately picked apart by sharp-sighted users on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), who exposed a major technical flaw in the product: “candle tunneling”.

An X user explained: “The pool of wax you see around the wick of Meghan’s candle is referred to as candle tunneling. This can waste a significant part of your candle. Common causes of tunneling are using a wick that’s too small or an unsuitable wax blend.” This explanation quickly raised serious doubts about the quality of Meghan’s products, with another user bluntly claiming: “That’s because she’s using the very CHEAP and TOXIC paraffin wax! Check the ingredients!”

Beyond the product quality issues, Meghan’s promotional photo faced harsh criticism for violating basic fire safety principles and displaying a lack of ordinary common sense. Netizens noticed that the image featured a once-lit match placed directly on top of a paper box filled with unused matches. “As an added note, you should never place a once-lit match on top of a paper box filled with matches. That’s just common sense,” a commenter pointed out.

From an aesthetic standpoint, the Duchess of Sussex’s highly anticipated promotional layout was deemed a total failure by critics. Many reviews flatly slammed the composition as overly cluttered and completely uninviting. “The whole photo is a mess and at first glance it looks like a pot head’s coffee table,” one social media user commented cuttingly. Another added: “The composition of this photo is truly uninviting. There are so many options to make busy layouts pleasing to the eye and somehow all of those were missed.”

This latest product launch mishap deals a significant blow to Meghan Markle’s credibility and her business ambitions within the lifestyle sector. Repeatedly exposing amateur blunders—ranging from her previous jam promotional video to these latest candle oversights—is causing the public to rapidly lose faith in the “premium quality” brand the Duchess is actively trying to build.