USA 
United Kingdom
Beseiged tech company Astronomer has managed to turn the recent unexpected controversy which lead to the resignation of its CEO and CPO into a PR win, with an impromptu video from Gwyneth Paltrow, actress and former wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
Last week, the company nearly broke the internet with the unwanted attention created by footage of its erstwhile CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot in a clinch at a Coldplay concert, which was caught on a 'Kiss Cam' style camera. The panicked couple ducked out of sight, immediately bringing attention to the illicit nature of their relationship, and causing Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, to comment: “Oh, what...either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
A TikTok of the footage subsequently went viral, racking up over 120 million views and prompting allegations of an affair, endless memes, and all manner of individuals and organizations including Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Tesla and even the New York City Department of Sanitation chipping in.
Some 48-hours later, Byron resigned from his post, with the firm issuing a rather earnest statement, that said: "As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”
Cabot has since followed suit, stepping down from her role at the end of last week.
Object lesson in disaster comms
Sensing an opportunity to add proof to the maxim that there is "no such thing as bad publicity," Astronomer recruited the services of actress Gwyneth Paltrow as a "Temporary Spokesperson" to create a short tongue in cheek video which (mostly) avoids mentioning the controversy and instead focuses on the far less popular (or interesting) subject of what Astronomer actually does.
The one minute clip answers the questions that no-one is actually asking by swerving more pertinent queries such as "OMG! What the actual f..." and "how is your social media team holding up?" with explanations around its Apache data workflow automation products. Or...whatever.
The video has been widely shared and has already chalked up more than half a million views on the firm's YouTube channel. The clip has garnered much praise for its Marketing and PR departments as an object lesson in disaster recovery.
Comments on the video include "Crisis management gold medal! This was a massively risky move for Astronomer, and the narrowest of needles to thread for their PR/comms team, but I believe they nailed it."; "Some of the best crisis management I’ve ever seen; and "I dont even know what Apache is.. lol. But I´m now a fan."
