The television series Mad Men and various besuited guys with marketing degrees at happy hour will have you believe advertising is difficult, or at least requires some sort of skill. I learned firsthand today that this is untrue. To get the word out about a product you do not need a catchy slogan or a touching commercial, nor do you need to put up a billboard or pay an Instagram influencer $500,000. All you need to get the word out about your product is: corgis. Specifically, you need corgis dressed up in puppy-sized outfits of whatever your product is.
In today’s case, the product was Lifetime’s upcoming film Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance, premiering this Sunday at 8 p.m. Do you see how easy it was for Lifetime’s upcoming film Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance, premiering this Sunday at 8 p.m., to get that plug on this website? I haven’t been paid any money, except for the money I am being paid from how this is my job. I wasn’t even offered a producer credit on the film. I was simply paid the opportunity to see various corgis dressed in formal wear at Herald Square in New York City.
Which I enjoyed!
The event went like this: A British man dressed in a tuxedo with tails announced dog versions of the royal court, and the fluffy little corgis were led from their holding area onto a platform where a throng of reporters eagerly took photographs of them. (I went to a press preview, but the corgi wedding will be going on all day if you’d like your own photograph.) (I’ve gotten many Instagram DMs about its inclusion in my Story, if that tempts you.)
The corgis were then walked down a red carpet. Some reporters reached out and touched them, but I was not so bold. They looked very fluffy, however, and I would have liked to once I had their consent. There was a corgi Elizabeth II, a corgi Prince Charles, a corgi Prince George, a corgi Princess Charlotte, a Corgi Prince William, a corgi Duchess Kate, and — of course — a corgi Prince Harry and corgi Meghan Markle.
After each member of the royal court was announced, they took to a green area in the center to play. Luckily, there was no ceremony. Doggy Harry and doggy Meghan were not officially wed. Even if the dogs love each other and want to spend forever together (which they might, I was not granted the opportunity to speak with them), I feel like being forced to marry dressed as humans you’ve never even met would have been a non-ideal wedding situation for the pups.
As they played in the pen, Beatles and Spice Girls songs rang out from speakers above them — ah, their favorite groups. Did they look warm in their outfits, and did I worry about the long day of being photographed ahead of them? Of course. Did I feel guilty and ambiently nervous? Always. But, at that moment, the dogs seemed mostly happy and fine. There was a big water bowl in the center, and sometimes they’d stop by for a drink, which I loved to see. I love to watch a dog drink water. Lapping it up with her little puppy tongue and lifting her wet snout from the bowl — her sweet puppy thirst quenched. What a delight.
It was a fine event, but also it made me a little sad. All around me, iPhones were raised and rarely lowered. I kept having to remind myself to be in the moment — to be there with the formal corgis as they bounded down the red carpet, or pounced on each other in the playpen. Will we watch all of our corgi weddings through screens now? It’s a depressing thought. But there is likely no turning back.
And speaking of screens, there’s gonna be that movie!
Lifetime’s Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance premieres on Sunday, May 13, at 8 p.m.
