A man in Texas purchased an expensive couch which arrived disassembled and in mulitple boxes. He found assembling it to be quite the chore and complained online. The company, rather than diffusing the situation, shared a video which appeared to mock him, prompting backlash and cancellations.
Deric Cahill was the one who sparked the whole couch controversy. He is a comedian who often shares lifestyle and skit content online. This time around, his focus was all over a Lovesac couch he had recently purchased. The clip went viral, garnering 1.2 million views, 149,900 likes, and more than 5,100 comments.
The Texas man began sharing his unexpected unboxing, saying that his Lovesac couch had just arrived. It was disassembled and inside many boxes, which Deric had an issue with.
“Were they coming up with the business idea like, you know what we should do? Charge a [expletive] ton of money for our couches and then make everyone be factory workers,” he said.
Deric had purchased a sectional couch from Lovesac. While the exact model is not specified, the company’s site lists them as cheap as $2,999 up to a whopping $9,488. With that in mind, Deric, defeated, put on some gloves to prevent any knuckle injuries (a suggestion he found online) and began assembling the couch.
While he didn’t share the result, he did sit on his partially assembled Lovesac couch. He just said, “Wow. What a ride, baby.”
Company’s Response
Two days after Deric shared his video, and right as it was gaining traction, Lovesac shared a video of their own. It showed a woman assembling the couch, who said that the process was “so easy,” called the couch “so comfy,” and added that she didn’t have to use a toolbox.
However, it was the video’s caption that poured gasoline on a fire that was slowly growing. It read, “This and not getting the ick from a grown man needing tiny little gloves to assemble a couch.”
While one cannot say for certain that they were referencing the Texas man’s video, the message was pretty evident to most viewers. Backlash ensued, and the company took a massive hit as many of their potential customers canceled their orders. Furthermore, Lovesac’s stock lost seven percent of its value right after the videos were shared online.
Reactions
As said above, the backlash was incessant. One commented, “This is actually a disgusting response.” Another one asked, “How do I downvote the company instead of just the video?” A third one wrote, “This response made absolutely sure I will NEVER buy a Lovesac product.”
The angry comments even swarmed Lovesac’s other videos. One user commented, “I think Lovesac needs to fire their entire media team at this point.” Another one added, “I’d give my husband the time of his life for being smart enough to buy a fully assembled couch.”
In a follow-up clip, Deric said Lovesac initially contacted him after he posted the video, asking for a meeting. Lovesac uploaded its video before the meeting, which only makes the whole thing more bizarre.
