US tech firm Astronomer, whose CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot resigned after being filmed embracing at a Coldplay concert, has launched a clever promotional video featuring Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow as a "temporary spokesperson."
The 60-second clip, posted on Astronomer's X account, has garnered over 27 million views. In it, Paltrow, who was famously married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin for over a decade, humorously addresses "the most common questions" the company has received.
These questions, appearing as captions like "OMG! What the actual f," are cleverly sidestepped by Paltrow, who instead extols the virtues of Astronomer as "the best place to run Apache Airflow" and expresses the company's delight at "so many people hav[ing] a newfound interest in data workflow automation."
When asked how the social media team is "holding," Paltrow redirects by mentioning available spots for an upcoming conference.
PR firm CEO Jordan Greenaway lauded the video as "really clever," noting that while the scandal was widely known, the company's actual function was not.
He believes the viral scandal won't significantly harm Astronomer because it "doesn't strike at the heart of the quality of their product." The company's aim, according to Greenaway, was to convert the negative attention into brand awareness.
Greenaway praised Astronomer's strategy of "jumping in with both feet" rather than sidestepping the crisis, calling it a good approach when a scandal is "so big and well-known that you cannot easily duck it."
He contrasted it with the 2013 horsemeat scandal, where humor would have been inappropriate due to the direct impact on product quality.
Astronomer's situation, involving executive conduct rather than product integrity, allowed for a more humorous response.
While Astronomer may emerge relatively unscathed, Greenaway emphasized that Andy Byron's reputation is a "different matter," stating it would have been "very unfair and very unethical" for Byron himself to make light of the situation, given his role in the "bad behavior."
Byron had been CEO for two years when he and Cabot were caught on the "kiss cam" at Gillette Stadium on July 16.
Coldplay's Chris Martin notably joked from the stage, "Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy."
Pete DeJoy, co-founder and chief product officer, has been appointed interim CEO of Astronomer.
He acknowledged the unusual spotlight, writing on LinkedIn, "The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name."
Astronomer, founded in 2018, provides services for companies leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and describes itself as "the best place to run Apache Airflow," a product not developed by Astronomer. The company claims to have worked with major clients like Apple, Ford, and Uber.
Unverified reports suggest a massive 15,000% spike in website visits since the viral video.