What Lovesac’s Social Media Misstep Can Teach Brands About Humor

Writer

Hillary Chabot

Hillary Chabot is a writer for Babson Thought & Action and Babson Magazine. An award-winning journalist, she is known for her insightful reporting and dedication to detailed storytelling. With a career spanning over two decades, she has covered a wide range of topics, from presidential campaigns and government policy to neighborhood issues and investigative series. As a reporter for The Boston Herald, Hillary earned a reputation for tenacity and integrity. Her work at Babson College fuels her passions—to learn something new every day and conduct thoughtful, empathic interviews. She’s thrilled to be at Babson College, where students, faculty, staff members and classes provide compelling copy daily.

September 15, 2026

Arms pushing yellow trolley packed with delivery boxes.

A comedian's viral video about assembling a sectional sofa, and the brand's response, became a social media sensation, and a marketing lesson. (Photo: Matthew Henry/Burst)

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For brands navigating the unpredictable world of social media, humor can be a powerful tool—but when a customer is the target of the joke, the line between clever and condescending can disappear quickly.

That’s what happened to furniture company Lovesac after comedian and social media creator Deric Cahill posted a viral video poking fun at the five-hour process of assembling his Lovesac “sactional” sectional couch. According to Lauren Beitelspacher, a Babson marketing professor and Ken and Nancy Major Romanzi Senior Term Chair in Marketing, the company’s initial response missed a critical opportunity.

“Lovesac should have laughed with Cahill, rather than at him,” Beitelspacher said. “In most cases, it’s better for brands to poke fun at themselves rather than their customers.”

The episode offers a case study in the challenges and opportunities that arise when a customer complaint suddenly becomes a cultural moment.

From Complaint to Viral Sensation

Cahill’s August 18 video jokingly detailed the experience of receiving his modular Lovesac couch in 24 boxes and spending roughly five hours assembling it. His followers quickly joined the conversation, with many sharing their own headaches with furniture assembly.

The response from Lovesac’s CEO, Shawn Nelson, attempted to match the comedian’s humor. In videos that have since been taken down, Nelson offered to compensate Cahill with a pair of “size small” floral-print gardening gloves, referencing Cahill’s use of gloves during assembly. A subsequent video doubled down, joking that a “grown man” needed “tiny little gloves” to assemble the couch.

The response generated a backlash of its own.

Mike McGuirk, an associate professor of practice in marketing at Babson, said the numbers demonstrate just how dramatically the company’s response amplified the situation. Using Brandwatch, a company that analyzes how social media buzz impacts business, McGuirk examined the social conversation surrounding Lovesac following Cahill’s original video.

“The video essentially handed Lovesac an enormous, unsolicited focus group. People were saying, ‘The couch is great, but assembly is ridiculous.’ That’s extremely valuable information.”
Mike McGuirk, associate professor of practice in marketing

Daily social mentions of Lovesac spiked nearly 700%, while the percentage of comments categorized as negative and containing angry emotions increased 320%.

“Lovesac’s social media team and CEO Shawn Nelson completely missed the mark with their initial Instagram video response,” McGuirk said. “They were insulting the customer who just spent several thousand dollars on their product.”

Missed Opportunity

Perhaps the biggest marketing lesson was in the comments.

“The video essentially handed Lovesac an enormous, unsolicited focus group,” McGuirk said. “People were saying, ‘The couch is great, but assembly is ridiculous.’ That’s extremely valuable information.”

Rather than focusing on the comedian’s use of women’s floral gloves, Lovesac could have acknowledged the underlying complaint and used the conversation to learn more about the customer experience.

“Considering all the comments, Lovesac could have used this as a moment for free product feedback and marketing research,” Beitelspacher said.

When Brand Humor Works

Some companies have successfully built social media identities around teasing customers and engaging in playful banter. Wendy’s, for example, has become well known for a deliberately irreverent social media voice.

But Beitelspacher cautions against assuming that what works for one brand will automatically work for another.

“I think some brands are trying to be like Wendy’s, where customers literally sign up to be roasted,” she says. “But this is not one of those situations, and Lovesac does not have that type of relationship with its customers.”

Listen First, Then Respond

Lovesac eventually shifted its approach. In a later response, Nelson acknowledged that setting up the couch was “no joke,” characterized Cahill’s rant as funny and accurate, apologized for the earlier attempts at humor, and explained the engineering behind the company’s packaging and modular design.

He also acknowledged that there should be a better way, and said the company was working toward a permanent solution.

For McGuirk, that later response pointed toward what the company could have done from the beginning: acknowledge the customer’s experience, explain the problem without becoming defensive, and demonstrate that the company was listening.