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Time of India
30-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Gwyneth Paltrow helps turn Astronomer's infamy on its head
To take control of a scandal that turned a previously obscure data-operations firm into a household name practically overnight requires some skillful cunning. And, it turns out, the Hollywood A-listers Gwyneth Paltrow and Ryan Reynolds . On Friday, Astronomer — the technology company whose married CEO was caught on video at a Coldplay concert canoodling with a human resources executive at the firm who is not his wife — capitalized on the heightened attention when it released a video response featuring Paltrow as a 'temporary spokesperson.' As in: Paltrow, the ex-wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, and the woman who introduced the world to the concept of 'conscious uncoupling,' became the face of a niche tech startup with roughly 300 employees operating in 'a small corner of the data and AI world,' as the interim CEO described it in a LinkedIn post. 'Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days and they wanted me to answer the most common ones,' Paltrow says directly to camera in a video posted on Astronomer's social channels. The first question then appears on-screen: 'OMG! What the actual f' 'Yes!' she responds, a hint of knowing and exasperation in her voice. 'Astronomer is the best place to run Apache Airflow .' She adds: 'We've been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation .' Viewers were given a peek at what Astronomer actually does, a move that 'was quite clever, I must say,' said Michel Pham, a business professor and marketing strategy expert at Columbia Business School. For companies that abruptly find themselves embroiled in scandal, he explained, using humor to capitalize on the spotlight requires a deft touch. It's little surprise that the tongue-in-cheek ad has since ricocheted across the internet. On Instagram, the video has so far received over 64,000 likes. (For context, Astronomer's previous post, about a recent data conference in Berlin, had received 135 likes as of Monday afternoon.) On YouTube, the ad has been viewed more than half a million times. The video was produced by Reynolds' production company, Maximum Effort, the company confirmed in an email statement, but it's unclear who reached out to whom or when, exactly, the company was hired. Neither Astronomer nor representatives for Paltrow responded to requests for comment. Reynolds founded Maximum Effort in 2018 and has since cultivated a reputation for creating snarky advertising and viral content that the actor calls 'fastvertising.' 'A lot of times we're working really quickly, working with limited budgets, but we're also acknowledging and playing with the cultural landscape,' he said in a 2022 interview with The Washington Post. 'We try to create marketing that's moving at the exact same speed as culture is.' When companies face negative scandals that are related to their core product, like a mechanical failure in a car, for instance, there is little space for humor, Pham said. 'But in this case, this was about an affair and most people, I think, understand that affairs happen and that it doesn't necessarily compromise what this brand does.' That gave the company leeway to play along with the conversation. Pham pointed to an example in Britain where, in 2018, fast food chain KFC had no chickens to serve its customers because of supply-chain disruptions and was forced to close hundreds of outlets across the country. Days later, instead of an apology statement from an executive, the company took out newspaper ads with a simple message. 'FCK' — an anagram of its own name and a thinly veiled obscenity — followed by a tagline: 'A chicken restaurant without any chicken. It's not ideal.' 'They were pretty candid and they acknowledged the problem,' Pham said. Another example of a brand turning infamy into a positive came in 2019 in a move again orchestrated by Maximum Effort. When exercise equipment manufacturer Peloton released a holiday ad showing a man giving his wife a bike, the 30-second spot was swiftly criticized for being sexist and dystopian. Within hours of its release, Maximum Effort reached out to the woman in the commercial, who came to be known as 'Peloton Wife,' and a few days later, she starred in an ad that showed her drinking Reynolds' gin with her friends, toasting 'to new beginnings.' In 2014, Prince pulled off a similar marketing twist, or what comedian Dave Chappelle described as a marketing 'judo move.' In 2004, Chappelle had played Prince, dressed in a 'Purple Rain'-era ruffled suit, in a sketch on 'Chappelle's Show.' When Prince released the single 'Breakfast Can Wait' almost a decade later, he used a picture of Chappelle dressed as him. 'You make fun of Prince in a sketch and he'll just use you in his album cover,' Chappelle told 'Tonight Show' host Jimmy Fallon. 'What am I going to do? Sue him for using a picture of me dressed up like him?' he said. 'That's checkmate right there.'
NDTV
29-07-2025
- Business
- NDTV
"As Gwyneth Paltrow Said": Astronomer CEO On Moving On From Kiss Cam Scandal
It's been an eventful 10-day period for Astronomer, a Cincinnati-based data operations platform. The company appears to be slowly getting on its feet after a candid moment between its former CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristen Cabot - both married to different people - shot them into the spotlight, and not the kind they expected. Now, Pete DeJoy, the new interim CEO, has said that the Astronomer crew proved last week, in full colour, that "character shines brightest in tough moments". "They supported our customers, each other, and our mission without missing a beat. I'm deeply grateful to work alongside such thoughtful, driven people," he wrote in a LinkedIn post. Apart from thanking the employees at Astronomer, Mr DeJoy also spoke about their "Maximum Effort for their remarkable work" with Academy Award-winning actor Gwyneth Paltrow, whom the company hired as a "temporary spokesperson". "As Gwyneth Paltrow said, now it's time for us to return to what we do best: delivering game-changing results for our customers. We look forward to what this next chapter holds for Astronomer," he concluded. Mr Dejoy's post came two days after the tech firm released a tongue-in-cheek ad featuring Gwyneth Paltrow to manage the fallout. Ms Paltrow, the former wife of Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, introduced herself as Astronomer's "very temporary spokesperson." Instead of addressing the scandal, she completely ignores the gossip and talks about what the company actually does. She said, "I'm hired to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer. Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days and they wanted me to answer the most common ones." The first question: "OMG! What the actual f***," a clear reference to the viral scandal. She ignored the question and answered it as "Astronomer is the best place to run Apache Airflow. Unifying the experience of running data, ML and AI pipelines at scale. We've been thrilled so many people have found a new interest in data workflow automation." The next question: "How is your social media team holding up?" She again ignored and said, "There's still room available at our Beyond Analytics event in September. We will now be returning to what we do best: delivering game-changing results for our customers." The ad was created in collaboration with Ryan Reynolds' creative agency, Maximum Effort. Thank you for your interest in Maximum Effort, @astronomerio! We'll now get back to what we do best: motion pictures with Hugh Jackman, Fastvertising and Wrexham football. We'll leave data workflow automation to ̶G̶w̶y̶n̶e̶t̶h̶ ̶P̶a̶ Astronomer. — Maximum Effort (@MaximumEffort) July 27, 2025 Mr Byron and Ms Cabot were caught on camera during the British Band's famous 'Jumbotron segment' sharing an intimate moment in Boston last week. The duo was first put on leave. Mr Byron was the first to resign; Ms Cabot followed soon after.
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
One Reason Gwyneth Paltrow Said Yes to Viral Astronomer Ad Poking Fun at CEO's Coldplay Kiss Cam Drama (Exclusive)
'It came together very quickly,' a source tells PEOPLE of the video, which Ryan Reynolds' Maximum Effort also worked on A few new details are emerging about an instantly viral ad with Gwyneth Paltrow from Astronomer — the tech company whose executives were caught on camera while wrapped in each other's arms at a Coldplay concert earlier this month. In the days immediately after CEO Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot, the chief people officer, were seen together (and playfully singled out from the stage by Coldplay's lead singer, Chris Martin, who is Paltrow's ex), Astronomer was thrust into the spotlight. Byron and Cabot, who appeared mortified to have been spotted publicly and who have not commented on their relationship, both resigned. Paltrow, 52, tweaked all of the attention Astronomer was getting when she appeared in a tongue-in-cheek ad that the company released on Friday, July 25. 'I've been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer,' Paltrow says in the video, which has been seen millions of times. She goes on to add, 'We've been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation.' Behind the scenes, says an insider, the entire project happened fast — and its tone was part of what appealed to the actress and Goop founder. 'It came together very quickly,' the source tells PEOPLE of the ad. 'The company reached out to her.' 'Gwyneth has a really great sense of humor and it felt funny enough for her to do,' the source explains. 'It happened quickly.' (An Astronomer spokesperson declined to comment further about the commercial, beyond the video.) Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. There is another A-list connection: Ryan Reynolds' Maximum Effort worked on the ad, the company said on social media. Maximum Effort also collaborated on a similarly sardonic ad in 2021, made in response to Chris Noth's character dying on And Just Like That… Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ryan Reynolds' Maximum Effort ad agency turned Astronomer's viral moment into marketing gold
Ryan Reynolds' Maximum Effort production company was involved with the latest Astronomer video featuring Gwyneth Paltrow. The ad is being hailed as a master class in crisis PR. It comes days after the former CEO and former head of HR were seen embracing at a Coldplay concert. Astronomer might have gotten the last laugh following the viral moment that caught its former CEO and former head of HR in an embrace at a Coldplay concert. And it has, in some ways, Ryan Reynolds to thank for that. Late Friday, Astronomer released a video featuring Gwyneth Paltrow (who was formerly married to Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin), who was hired as a spokesperson on a 'very temporary basis.' In the humorous clip, Paltrow answers questions such as 'OMG, what the actual f' and 'How is your social media team holding…' by promoting the company's services and upcoming analytics event. If the tongue-in-cheek approach—from the phrasing of the questions to Paltrow's blithely chipper answers—seems to have a Ryan Reynolds tinge to it, that's because the ads were created by Reynolds' Maximum Effort production company. The company confirmed its participation in the ads on Sunday in a post on social media, writing, 'Thank you for your interest in Maximum Effort, @astronomerio! We'll now get back to what we do best: motion pictures with Hugh Jackman, Fastvertising and Wrexham football,' the post said. 'We'll leave data workflow automation to Gwyneth Pa Astronomer.' Pete DeJoy, Astronomer's cofounder, who stepped in as CEO after Andy Byron's resignation following the kiss cam incident, thanked Maximum Effort in a LinkedIn post Sunday. 'I'd also like to thank the team at Maximum Effort for their remarkable work with our very temporary spokesperson,' DeJoy said. 'As Gwyneth Paltrow said, now it's time for us to return to what we do best: delivering game-changing results for our customers. We look forward to what this next chapter holds for Astronomer.' Maximum Effort, founded in 2018, has made a name for itself with its irreverent video spots, some of which are ads, some of which are simply meant to amuse. It also coproduced the films Free Guy and Deadpool & Wolverine. The Paltrow video has been viewed more than 36 million times on X/Twitter alone, with more than 150,000 likes. It has another 534,000 views on YouTube to date. This story was originally featured on Solve the daily Crossword
Wall Street Journal
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Ryan Reynolds, Gwyneth Paltrow Help Astronomer Move On From Coldplay Kiss Cam
Tech company Astronomer is trying to move on from its Coldplay concert kiss-cam scandal with the help of a Madison Avenue powerhouse known for his sense of humor. Actor Ryan Reynolds's marketing firm, Maximum Effort, created a lighthearted advertisement to help repair Astronomer's brand and shift the public's focus to its actual business, rather than its leaders' extracurricular activities.
