Anthropologie's Rock Opera
Couples comedy and a sexy rock pulled off something I was legit surprised by
Since publishing my first article, there are now over 30 of you here, which is amazing1! Thank you for being here. I’m Jesse, I cover the world of comedy in the world of branding and branding in the world of comedy. Last time, I talked about Roomies, a sitcom produced by a credit card company that has no business being as good as it is.
In today’s article, we’re talking about how a TikTok creator’s prank on her boyfriend led to a deftly played comedy moment from Anthropologie, a store not exactly known for its sense of humor.
Read to the end for an inappropriate take about couples comedy and OnlyFans.
Anthropologie doesn’t take up a lot of space in my brain. There’s a short list of things I know about the brand, most of which I picked up from walking past the store at the Glendale Galleria and, for whatever reason, an offhand joke Mindy Kaling made in her 2011 book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns).
“…my bedroom is so untidy it looks like vandals ransacked the Anthropologie Sale section.”
Which is a solid enough joke if it stuck around in my head that long.
Here’s what I know about Anthropologie:
It’s boho-chic for elder millennial women
Everything is overpriced
I just assume they abuse “the wedding font”
It’s the kind of place that sells a wicker poodle for $250.
I’m not the core customer for Anthropologie, not even close, but I lived through 2008 Williamsburg and shopped at Urban Outfitters, so I understand the positioning. Get that poodle, girl. That being said, when a TikTok creator tricked her boyfriend into thinking she bought a $150 rock from Anthropologie, I wasn’t shocked that it took the fuck off.
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Phoebe Adams and her boyfriend Dan Diliberto specialize in “couples comedy” (their words, not mine), an adorkably appetizing genre of social media that runs the gamut from “aw, shucks” to “oh, fuck.”
It’s light, it’s fun, and even though it gives me a healthy dose of cringe, I can’t deny that when it works, it works. Again, I’m not the core customer, but I get it.
Phoebe is the wild card to Dan’s straight man, and she drives most of the comedy in their videos. By the way, Nutty Girl and Straitlaced Dude is clearly the most palatable formula for couples comedy. If you’re wondering why, just imagine how toxic it would feel in 2025 if a husband were constantly pranking his wife for likes and views.
Anyway, Phoebe staged a to-camera video where she unboxes a rock she claims she bought from Anthropologie for only $150 (on sale), much to Dan’s smirking chagrin. The internet loved it. Then Anthropologie jumped in on the joke, creating a surprisingly satisfying collaboration between creator and brand that doesn’t feel cringey or obnoxious. That part, I am actually the core customer for.
Let’s talk about what planets aligned to make this joke work.
To Be Specific
Phoebe is a savvy creator, fully capable of making a video go viral without relying on a well-known brand. Telling My Boyfriend Spicy Food Gives You a Spicy Period got 1.4 million views, Part 2 of What to Do If Your Boyfriend Has Dingleberries pulled 1.9 million, and a video where she… just gives Dan a wet willy… is at 7.4 million.
But Anthropologie rock? That one’s at 12 million views. Clearly, this hit on something bigger than dingleberries, wet willies, or mild betrayals of her boyfriend’s trust.
So what did she do right? She picked a retailer whose brand isn’t just strong but deeply specific. And in comedy, specifics matter. For example:
Someone broke into my car and stole my bag!
vs.
Someone broke into my Kia Sorento and stole my Jansport!
One is specific, the other is generic. One conjures a clear mental picture, saying something about this person’s age and financial status; the other conjures a stock photo and says nothing.
Anthropologie is specific. Even a dipshit like me knows what they sell (bohemian-chic clothes and home goods), who they sell it to (upper-middle-class millennial women), and how much they charge (too much). They’ve been around long enough that most people know when something “feels like Anthropologie.”
Now imagine I asked you to come up with a fake product for Target that says something about the brand and the people who shop there. Hard, right? Target is too big and too broad. What about Nike? Or Apple? Or McDonalds? Powerful, strong brands, but not specific in a way that would make for clear joke writing. These brands are intended for as many people as possible.
Brands that feel specific? Kith. Taschen. Black Rifle Coffee. Fashion Nova. Online Ceramics. They speak directly to a core community and a core customer.
She chose the right rock, too. If she had picked a multicolored igneous rock, or a hunk of concrete, or even a sparkling geode, the joke wouldn’t land the same way. It wouldn’t feel believable. Instead, she chose a slab of shale: a monochromatic, sedimentary rock. It’s not wild to imagine Anthropologie styling a lookbook with that rock and then selling it on the website.
Whether Phoebe realized it or not, she effectively weaponized Anthropologie’s specificity. The joy here is in thinking the joke might be real, or maybe even should be real. That tension drives the impulse to share it with other people who “get” Anthropologie and get the joke.
It’s All About Timing
If you’re a brand and you want to co-own a joke like this, you have to be first to market. It’s an arms race for who can commit the hardest and the fastest. Phoebe posted her video on September 14. Anthropologie responded with their own on September 20.
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In a surprisingly self-aware move, they built a whole-ass display for the rock! With a sign, and a barcode! To date, this is their best-performing TikTok at 7.6 million views. If they had waited even a little bit longer and let someone else sneak a fake rock display into their stores, it would’ve been game over. And honestly, there’s not a small chance something like that could’ve happened.
In that scenario, the brand’s fortress is breached. The rebels take control. Anthropologie would be left with two bad options: shut it down and look like a narc, or jump in way too late and look like a cringey marketing team that’s not paying attention. The only semi-salvageable move would be to wait until the bit was nearly dead and then, right before we all got tired of it, post a fake promo video. That would still earn them points, but not enough to win. At best, it’d be a draw.
By jumping in quickly, they got to co-own the joke. And for a brand that usually comes off as self-serious and precious, that’s a fantastic look.
An Unhinged Take on Couple’s Comedy
Okay, hear me out…the appeal of this genre of straight-people comedy is rooted in something I don’t think is that far away from OnlyFans.
They’re young, they’re affectionate and tactile. It’s titillating in a chaste, Mormon-kinda way. There’s a physical intimacy on display that’s so genuine it makes me anxious they want to funnel us somewhere to watch more of it for $5.99 a month.
What I’m saying is that couples comedy is an invitation to laugh at their relatability, but also isn’t not about picturing them doing it, right?????
*There are 32 of you here.