Prince Harry and Meghan Markle seem to be galloping away from any association with their new show about polo, after it was ridiculed by critics as a tin-eared foray into the âworldâs stupidest sport.â
Notably, there has been no visible promotion for the show, entitled, imaginatively enough, Polo; no interviews or podcast episodes with Meghan or Harry have dropped, and records suggest there are no premieres or press events scheduled to support its launch earlier this week.
Itâs a grim turn of events for the couple, once heralded as Netflixâs golden duo. Their own lack of engagement with promotional efforts for the show, which they executive produced and have a cameo role in, suggests even they know itâs a dud.
Sean McNulty, a producer, writer, and Hollywood veteran who also created and writes the Hollywood newsletter The Wakeup, told the Daily Beast: âThis one hasnât been on my radar at all this week, which maybe says it all right there.â
McNulty noted the absence of coverage in the Hollywood trade papers and the apparent absence of any scheduled premiere or press activity for the series, saying: âThe lack of a proper, visible press campaign for a series from Harry & Meghan raises an eyebrow to say the least.â
He said that Netflix has launched âother much higher profile content this weekâ such as Carry-On, Jamie Foxx and Sabrina Carpenter specials, which suggested Polo âcould very well disappear in to the Netflix ether quite quickly.â
Harry and Meghan do not have official social media accounts but their friends who have often promoted things on their behalf have been eerily quiet too.
Even Nacho Figueras, the player sometimes described as the David Beckham of polo, who is one of the stars of the show, only posted a few tweets and one Instagram story about the show earlier this week before moving on.
More shuffling away from the bad smell was evident in remarks attributed to a source reportedly quoted in Closer Magazine, who said the end result was âpretty much out of their controlâ because âthe bosses wanted the series to appeal to the masses and push this reality TV angle.â
Tony Case, a marketing expert and writer, told The Daily Beast: âThe critics have universally slammed the show. Harry and Meghan are box office poison. Of course everyone is running away from it, in every direction, so to as to not pick up the stench of this colossal bomb. From a brand perspective, Iâm not really sure anything can be done at this point to reverse consumersâ obvious apathy toward the Sussexes. They set out to conquer America, but nobody here, it turned out, found them or what theyâre peddling to be particularly compelling.â
With a spokesperson for the couple declining to comment, it looks suspiciously like Harry and Meghan would rather we all quietly pretend this new show doesnât exist. Critics, however, do not appear ready to extend that courtesy.
The Daily Telegraph called Polo a âtedious inside lookâ at the sport and a âdull indulgence,â while the Guardian, declared polo âthe stupidest, most obnoxious sport known to humanity.â One reviewer suggested the series felt like something designed to play in the background of Succession episodes.
It is all a far cry from the lofty ambitions Harry and Meghan had when they signed their much-publicized $100 million Netflix deal. Back then, the couple promised âcontent that informs but also gives hopeâ through a âtruthful and relatable lens.â Fast-forward to today, and theyâve apparently delivered a reality TV-style take on polo thatâs been compared to Selling Sunset and The Real Housewives franchise, just without the ratings.
So, not quite the hope-filled masterpiece we were expecting.
Even Harryâs arch-foe Prince William appeared to troll the couple earlier this week, revealing he has been enjoying Netflixâexcept he said he was watching the hit new show Black Doves.