Astronomer Hires Gwyneth Paltrow as Spokesperson Amid Coldplay Kiss Cam Scandal

In what marked an unprecedented viral moment, what should have been a public relations crisis was artfully exploited by clever Astronomer. The kiss cam from the stadium caught the CEO of Astronomer, Andy Byron, embracing Kristin Cabot, Head of HR. The video was released onto the Internet with the public eventually turning against the couple when it was revealed that both Byron and Cabot had spouses of their own.

The aftermath saw Byron and Cabot resigning from their posts. Astronomer, in its statement, expressed that its leaders are held to the highest standards of conduct and accountability, and that the aforementioned standards had not been up to par in this instance.

Astronomer boldly embraced the controversy and used it as a marketing opportunity by appointing Gwyneth Paltrow-a well-known actress and entrepreneur-to be their temporary spokesperson. What made this appointment noteworthy is that Paltrow was at one time married to Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay. The video featuring Paltrow was released across Astronomer's social media outlets on July 25.

In this funny video, the first encounter with Paltrow occurs when she gives her name and states she has been temporarily employed to represent the 300-plus employees of Astronomer. She basically skirts around the issue and acknowledges the media attention brought to the company while also mentioning the technical services Astronomer provides. This approach caught everyone off-guard: half-baked and funny, it went viral and won criticisms all over the Internet.

It was applauded on social media, being called "genius" and "the best PR we have ever seen." Astronomer's marketing team and creative department were lauded for turning a disaster into a platform to increase brand recognition and redefine public perception.

Despite the recent leadership reshuffle at the company, it is still supporting its employees and working on rebuilding trust; in the meantime, however, the ad campaign has extremely successfully steered the spin away and has bizarrely taken Astronomer to a greater audience.