Meghan Markle accused of buying ‘fake followers' for new lifestyle brand

Meghan Markle has been accused of buying “fake followers” for her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, on Instagram.

Earlier this week, the Duchess of Sussex launched her new brand on social media. So far, only the brand logo has been posted online with no details about the brand itself.

The brand has many “red flags,” claimed PR expert Ryan McCormick, as he pointed out some issues with the Duchess of Sussex’s brand debut on social media.

In a conversation with The Mirror, the expert noted, "From a PR perspective, I don't find the launch of American Riviera Orchard impressive in any capacity.”

“The company's Instagram page has over 518,000 followers. I'm highly suspicious that most of those followers are fake,” he made a bombshell allegation.

"Why?” the expert went on to explain. “Aside from the fact that of a half-million people started following the account in such a short window, they don't show the number of likes on each post."

Ryan highlighted that many of the users engaging with the posts haven't shared any content of their own, which, he said, is a “major red flag."

He said the company’s website could be improved. "When you go to American Riviera Orchard's website is there a mission statement, a product line, anything about the company? No,” the expert noted.

"There is a place where you can sign up for our email address. I think Meghan blew a big opportunity here. If she had products ready to do and then got all this attention, sales would probably be healthy."