July 30, 2025 • 20 mins
After NPR called me to weigh in on the Coldplay concert scandal and Astronomer’s new viral ad starring Gwyneth Paltrow, a listener to the time to email to call me a “fussbucket.”
You know what? I’ll take it.
Because here’s the thing: clever marketing isn’t a substitute for accountability. In this epsiode ofThe PR Breakdown, I explain why Astronomer’s ad (produced by Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort and fronted by Gwyneth Paltrow) is a classic case of PR deflection wrapped in celebrity glitter.
This episode unpacks:
- Why the real problem was never the kiss—it was the CEO-HR power dynamic
- The danger of turning ethical breaches into punchlines
- How Maximum Effort’s fastvertising campaign misread the assignment
- What leadership accountability actually sounds like (hint: not “we’ve become a household name”)
Want to learn what separates a temporary distraction from a lasting reputation hit? This episode is for you.
Mentioned in the episode:
- "5 PR Lessons from the Coldplay Concert That Took Down a CEO" - Molly McPherson, Substack (July, 23, 2025)
- "The Coldplay Concert Scandal That Took Down a CEO" - PR Breakdown podcast (July 23, 2025)
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Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Molly McPherson (00:00):
In a totally unexpected twist to the Coldplay
Kiss Cam scandal, gwynethPaltrow has now entered the chat
Astronomer hiring RyanReynolds' company Maximum Effort
to create an ad that wouldcapitalize on the newfound
interest in the company.
You may have seen the viral adfrom Astroner Gwyneth Paltrow,
poised and polished, calmlyexplaining Apache Airflow
(00:23):
orchestration while carefullyavoiding any mention of the
scandal that recently thrust thecompany into public view.
Her delivery Cool, very goopy,the tone Witty.
The strategy Pure PR deflection.
Did it work?
Depends.
Welcome to the PR Breakdown.
(00:46):
I'm your host, molly McPherson,and in this episode let's
discuss how brands andcelebrities try to rewrite their
reputations using humor, othercelebrities and distraction, and
why that's becoming a trend andnot a really good one.
Let's get into it.
From crisis to ad campaign,let's set this up.
(01:09):
I do not want to linger on theColdplay concert.
That was two weeks ago.
We've all seen it, we've alltalked about it Two executives,
a kiss cam, chris Martin, and aninternet pile-on the former CEO
of Astronomer, andy Byron, andHuman Resources Executive,
kristen Cabot.
(01:29):
Both have resigned.
I have the word resigned in airquotes if you could see me with
my fingers in the air.
The story made headlineseverywhere, but that's now
secondary to what everyone istalking about this week, but
that's now secondary to whateveryone is talking about this
week, the eh, or as I call it,the stunt and if you agree with
(01:50):
me or not, I think we can bothagree that we can call it the
strategy.
Enter Gwyneth Paltrow's nowviral appearance as Astronomer's
temporary spokesperson that'sin air quotes as well was cheeky
high gloss and it was PRengineered.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
She answered.
Well.
Okay, just take a listen.
Astronomer has gotten a lot ofquestions over the last few days
and they wanted me to answerthe most common ones.
Yes, astronomer is the bestplace to run Apache Airflow.
There is still room available.
At our Beyond Analytics eventin September, we will now be
returning to what we do bestdelivering game-changing results
for our customers.
Thank you for your interest inAstronomer.
Molly McPherson (02:35):
Important to note.
She never once referenced theactual issue that landed the
company in hot water.
Not that we expected her to,but that omission.
What's the point?
The ad reframed the moment.
It repackaged a scandal into aclever marketing bump.
But here's the truth.
That ad was entirelyunnecessary.
If Astronomer had addressed theissue early with integrity and
(02:59):
transparency, this kind of mediaspin wouldn't have been needed.
For reference, last week'spodcast episode I have a link in
the show notes.
I discuss exactly why theentire viral mishegas happened,
and it's because they made amassive misstep by not
addressing that fake CEOstatement.
(03:21):
That's what triggered thealgorithm.
That's why everybody wastalking about it.
There's also a number of socialmedia posts of mine in TikTok,
instagram, linkedin and Substack.
You can check those out in theshow notes as well.
Now here's something that Ihaven't said yet about this
matter.
We have two 50-somethingsgetting together, married or not
(03:41):
.
I still don't think it'snewsworthy that a CEO and the
chief people officer maybe,maybe not had an affair.
That duck and cover at aColdplay concert yeah, that's
what made it newsworthy viralnewsworthy, but it's still
private.
Chris Martin outing someone wholooked like they're having an
(04:03):
affair.
Viral For public consumption,definitely, but what's going on
with the two of them?
Not necessarily.
No one knows the status of AndyByron and Kristen Cabot's
relationship.
Yes, according to press reports, they were both quote-unquote
married, but were they separatedfrom their spouses?
It's possible that one or bothhave already filed for divorce.
(04:24):
This could have been acelebratory date.
We may learn the truth laterdown the road, but it won't
matter, because their names arenow forever associated with
their story.
Their names are mud, and here'sthe bottom line up front.
I'm just not diggingastronomers' crisis management
strategy at all.
Is there a problem with the CEOgetting together with his chief
(04:47):
people officer?
Yeah, that's huge.
On my girls weekend last weekand if you saw my social media
posts, you saw me talk about itwe chit-chatted a lot about this
and if you were following anyof my lives on Substack, you
know that I got really close tothe inner circle, so I
definitely know things that arenot public.
(05:08):
We had a very spiritedconversation about this, but the
one thing we all agree on isthis when you have the CEO and
the head of HR together in arelationship and it's a hidden
relationship that creates awhole lot of problems for the
company because anyone who waslet go or reprimanded by Chris
and Cabot.
They now have a legal standingagainst Astronomer for a false
(05:29):
firing or a false reprimand,whatever it is.
So those two getting togetherabsolutely caused a problem.
That's the crisis, not the factthat two people who worked
together came together and wereouted by Chris Martin.
That's not the issue.
The crisis is that a CEO and achief people officer were outed
by Chris Martin.
That's not the issue.
The crisis is that a CEO and achief people officer were outed.
That's the problem.
Now let's move on to astronomersusing humor as a shield.
(05:54):
That ad, maximum Effort, theagency behind the ad.
And, by the way, I justfinished an interview with NPR
for All Things Considered thataired on Monday.
I flubbed maximum effort.
I cannot tell you how much Istruggled saying it and now it
flows effortlessly out of mymouth.
But it is more than a punchlinefactory, because it was
(06:15):
co-founded by friend of thepodcast not really Ryan Reynolds
and a former president of adigital marketing company.
But their company has built areputation for this rapid
response, culturally timedcampaigns.
So its name is a nod to RyanReynolds' character in Deadpool.
So the strategy of the company?
(06:36):
It's called fast-fertizing.
They call it agile productionthat mirrors the pace of social
media.
I'm not a fan of Ryan Reynoldsbut I'll give him credit for
this concept.
Now a lot of other companieshave the same concept but
because it's Ryan Reynolds, tiedinto his Hollywood persona, his
fame along with his wife's fame.
(06:57):
You remember he had Aviation Gin.
He made big money off of that.
That company did the adcampaign.
They did a Peloton parody onMatchcom.
They also did the response toChris Noth.
Remember in Just Like that, theTV show, the spinoff from Sex
and the City, when Chris Nothhad a heart attack on the
(07:19):
Peloton?
Sorry if I'm spoiling that foryou, which, by the way, it's
just coming to my mind right now.
I think I did.
I met the person who worked forthe agency that handled the
Peloton when that whole thinghappened and no one had any idea
that that was coming down thepike.
So, maximum effort.
They're the ones who couldquickly turn things around.
(07:40):
It's a successful company.
We will give that to RyanReynolds.
So this Gwyneth fits theplaybook.
It's a successful company.
We will give that to RyanReynolds.
So this Gwyneth fits theplaybook.
It's swiftly produced.
Tone, perfect time, just right.
People liked it and I talkedabout it in a social media post.
As I mentioned, my girlfriendsand I were talking about it on
our girls weekend to thevineyard.
We all agreed Great ad.
(08:01):
It definitely hit a note and,from the comments on my social
media, most people liked it.
I still stand by it, though itwas not the right response for
what Astronomer was dealing with.
So the ad was well produced andwhat Gwyneth was doing fine.
But it was pure PR deflectionBecause, first of all, as I said
(08:21):
, none of it was necessary.
Remember what I said in thebeginning none of it was
necessary.
Remember what I said in thebeginning none of it was
necessary.
We didn't even have to do that.
Had astronomer managed theinternal problem quietly,
transparently, with leadership,the deflection wouldn't have
been needed.
But don't forget, that's thereason why we had this ad in the
first place.
Instead we did get a campaignthat was funny.
I didn't think it was thatfunny, but I was not amused by
(08:44):
it.
But I'll still call it funny if.
But it left all theaccountability on the cutting
room floor.
So I get it.
The public's amused by it.
They're not outraged, they'renot skeptical, they're just
amused.
So some people could say, hey,that's a win-win.
But for the people in mycomments who said they didn't
like it because it was a PRdeflection and it wasn't working
(09:06):
for them, brava, there is noshame to the people who liked it
because it was designed to makeyou like it.
But for my PR types I'm gladthat you could see right through
it.
Why Gwyneth?
Why now?
Well, there's timing here worthnoting Amy O'Dell's biography
Gwyneth.
The biography dropped yesterday, july 29th, a deeply reported,
(09:30):
possibly unflattering look atPaltrow's life, from the 90s
Hollywood all the way to Goop.
Gwyneth Paltrow whether youlike her or not, she's
polarizing.
She's just one of thosecelebrities that is not
universally well-liked.
For every person that likes her, I would argue there's like a
handful of people who don't likeher.
We've already seen some of theleaks from the book come out
(09:54):
already.
It doesn't mean that GwynethPaltrow is going to have a
massive negative backlash withthis book, but it's going to
remind people of why they don'tlike Gwyneth Paltrow, because
there's just other stories there.
So there is no doubt in my mindthat Gwyneth Paltrow doing this
ad it's a reminder that she'sin on the joke.
(10:14):
Before the press cycle spinsback up, the conscious uncoupled
Chris Martin, her ex-husband.
He has Martin and Coldplay byfar their streams.
Everything has been roses forColdplay and Chris Martin.
(10:39):
But Gwyneth she's polarizing.
It could help her, but it'salso going to hurt her.
Either way, she did control thenarrative and that's not
nothing.
But does PR deflection work Inthe short term?
Yes, as I mentioned, based onmy social media comments, people
found the ad amusing, butamusing doesn't equal absolution
.
Let's just compare a coupleexamples.
(11:02):
A few years ago, kfc UK cameout with a campaign that was on
Twitter Not X, but it wasTwitter.
They decided to deflect thatcrisis with humor.
They called their campaign aquote FCK end quote bucket
campaign.
I have a link to the tweet inthe show notes.
That worked.
(11:22):
They got great press from thatPR deflection.
That is when PR deflectionworks.
Another example that is when PRdeflection works.
Another example Barack Obamawith the birth certificate
controversy.
In 2011, at a White Housecorrespondence dinner, obama
addressed the conspiracytheories about his birthplace by
(11:43):
revealing a clip from Disney'sthe Lion King.
Tonight, for the first time, Iam releasing my official birth
video.
Oh well, back to square one.
(12:05):
That was a humorous turn and anevent that really worships at
the altar of humor frompoliticians Also George W Bush
another case of self-deprecation.
Bush often pokes fun at his ownverbal gaffes, like
mispronunciations, like placingemphasis on the wrong syllable.
(12:26):
These types of jokes divertattention from criticisms about
his intellect.
That's a PR crisis for Bush,his intellect being secondary in
his presidential campaign.
But when he makes fun ofhimself, he makes himself appear
more approachable by diffusingthe harsher attacks and people
like that.
But astronomers issue it's aCEO involved with the head of HR
(12:49):
.
That's a power imbalance thatbrings up ethical questions,
potential legal implications.
That's not something you jokeyour way out of.
And no, there's no way that thisad is going to increase sales.
Will it increase impressions?
Will it increase namerecognition?
Absolutely?
I was asked on the All ThingsConsidered NPR interview
(13:11):
wouldn't you agree that everyonethat no one was familiar with
Astronomer?
And now everyone is?
Absolutely, and maybe it mightget more people to show up at
their Beyond Analytics event inSeptember that Gwyneth Paltrow
pushed in the ad.
But long-term credibility,that's a different conversation.
Take new data from my newpodcast partner, muckrack.
(13:33):
They have a study that showsthat 27% of all citations across
AI models are from journalisticcontent.
That number climbs to 30% whenlooking at links that AI tools
actively cite.
When we think of press mentions, it's not just the internet
anymore, it's also AI.
So when you're plugging intoPerplexity or ChatGPT or even
(13:55):
MuckRack, you work in PR and youwant background information on
this story about astronomer,it's going to skim stories from
AI.
So, yes, the impressions willdefinitely be there, but does
that equal Sam's?
So what is being deflected here?
A CEO involved with a personresponsible for hiring and
firing A board that supportedboth, and a company trying to
(14:19):
move on without offeringaccountability.
And now a celebrityspokesperson is trying to smooth
things over.
Anyone who's ever beenreprimanded by Chris and Cabot
has every right to question thatoutcome now, and they might
even do it legally.
Here's another reason why Ithink Astronomer's crisis PR
strategy from the beginning waswrong, and that's the interim
(14:39):
CEO, pete DeJoy.
Now he stepped in as theinterim CEO from Andy Byron, but
Pete DeJoy was a co-founder.
Here's an excerpt from astatement that he posted on July
21st into helping build, andthen he goes on to talk about
(15:02):
what happened with the companyover the past few years.
Then he says the events of thepast few days have received a
level of media attention thatfew companies, let alone
startups, in our small corner ofthe data and AI world ever
encounter the spotlight has beenunusual and surreal for our
team, and, while I would neverhave wished for it to happen
like this, astronomer is now ahousehold name.
(15:23):
At Astronomer, we have nevershied away from challenges.
A near decade of building thisbusiness has tested us time and
time again and each time we'veemerged stronger.
A couple things to point out inthere.
Astronomer has been around for10 years.
Did you know about Astronomerbefore 10 days ago?
No, the fact that they'rementioning the event of the past
few days receiving a level ofmedia attention that few
(15:44):
companies, let alone startups,ever have.
Next, mentioning thatastronomer is now a household
name.
I think there is a level ofPete DeJoy taking joy out of
what's happening with thecompany In this statement.
There is nothing about whathappened there, the breakdown
(16:06):
that happened there, the ethicalbreakdown that happened there.
They're trying to gloss over itand it's something that can't
be forgotten.
The statement said astronomeris now a household name.
True, but now, for the reasonsa CEO or an interim CEO should
want, I had to look at hisbackground because I work with a
lot of CEOs in crisis and I canusually tell right off the bat
(16:28):
what their background is, and Inailed it on this one.
I thought, as soon as I look upthis guy, I know the background
is going to be from one side ofthe brain.
He went to Bowdoin great school.
He has degrees in chemistry andphysics.
That makes him a great personfor chemistry and physics and
for starting a company 10 yearsago.
(16:48):
He's clearly brilliant, butthat doesn't necessarily make
him the right person to managereputation.
Pr isn't about IQ, it's aboutEQ.
It's about understandingculture.
It's about understandingreputation.
And he may not have written theentire playbook about hiring
maximum effort, about hiringGwyneth Paltrow, about not
(17:10):
putting out any type of releaseto quash the fake CEO posts that
went out there, but if he didor not, he certainly approved it
or someone on the board did,and it shows this was a misstep
from the beginning.
They were using just logicwhere leadership required
empathy.
Yes, it's true, everyone hasheard about Astronomer, but
(17:31):
would you invest in a companywhose crisis plan rests on Ryan
Reynolds and a punchline?
I wouldn't.
Oh, you think I forgot tomention Ryan Reynolds?
This is a podcast about PRdeflection.
Why wouldn't I mention RyanReynolds?
Because Maximum Effort mademaximum effort to make sure that
everyone knew that they werebehind this viral ad.
(17:51):
I found it on X because I wasfollowing breadcrumbs and when I
landed there, I noticed one.
I haven't spent any time on Xbecause I have so many
notifications on X.
So many people have been tryingto reach me on X, but this is
where I saw their post and Iposted this to Instagram and
TikTok and Substack as well.
This is what it said Thank youfor your interest in maximum
(18:12):
effort at Astro Mario.
That's the X account forastronomer.
We'll now get back to what wedo best Motion pictures with
Hugh Jackman, faster vising andWrexham football.
So all these plugs, everythingthat's Ryan Reynolds affiliated,
we'll leave data workflowautomation too.
And then they strike outGwyneth Pall you know PA
(18:35):
astronomer.
And then it's a link to the ad.
That is classic Ryan Reynoldswit.
He inserted himself in thestory because why wouldn't he?
Because he's a part of amassive PR crisis, and that is
the it Ends With Us PR crisisthat his wife, blake Lively, is
stuck in the middle of alongwith him, and I think it's all
(18:56):
because of Ryan Reynolds in thefirst place.
And that thing goes on and on.
A lot of people have notforgotten about it.
He does want people to forgetabout it, but he wants the
internet to forget about it aswell, because these things still
have a way of pushing downother stories.
This kind of quippy humor isvery Ryan Reynolds, very Gwyneth
Paltrow, and that's why theyboth did it.
(19:16):
So in the short term, does itwork?
Sure, I get it.
I'm not gonna shame anyone whothinks it's great.
I'm with you, I get it.
But for my PR types, the peoplein the comments who kind of can
see through the efforts hereand what they're doing that's
what I pay attention to.
So what this means for leaderswatching this whole thing play
out.
One humor can soften a blow,but it won't rebuild trust.
(19:41):
Two, faster advising worksuntil it doesn't.
It's fast, it comes on fast,but it goes away just as fast.
Faster vising works, but itgoes away as easy as it comes.
And three, when public trusterodes, clever isn't enough.
(20:02):
So if you're a leader in acrisis or you are counseling
leadership in a crisis, thepublic does not want
entertainment, they want truth,they want responsibility.
So for anyone who works instrategy or has the ear of
someone in strategy, use thisstory as a case study.
If you're under pressure, askyourself who needs to be heard,
(20:25):
not who.
Can we hire to distract?
Because clever isn't clean anddistraction isn't a strategy of
my content about this topic.
If you need to use it in thefuture, definitely check out the
(20:46):
show notes for all the linksand my thanks to my podcast
partner Muckrack.
It is the PR platform that Iuse to find all the links to all
the stories and all thejournalists talking about these
trending stories.
Thanks to them, I could givethe story to you in a podcast.
That's all for this week.
Thanks so much for listening.
(21:08):
Bye for now.
In a totally unexpected twist to the Coldplay
Kiss Cam scandal, gwynethPaltrow has now entered the chat
Astronomer hiring RyanReynolds' company Maximum Effort
to create an ad that wouldcapitalize on the newfound
interest in the company.
You may have seen the viral adfrom Astroner Gwyneth Paltrow,
poised and polished, calmlyexplaining Apache Airflow
(00:23):
orchestration while carefullyavoiding any mention of the
scandal that recently thrust thecompany into public view.
Her delivery Cool, very goopy,the tone Witty.
The strategy Pure PR deflection.
Did it work?
Depends.
Welcome to the PR Breakdown.
(00:46):
I'm your host, molly McPherson,and in this episode let's
discuss how brands andcelebrities try to rewrite their
reputations using humor, othercelebrities and distraction, and
why that's becoming a trend andnot a really good one.
Let's get into it.
From crisis to ad campaign,let's set this up.
(01:09):
I do not want to linger on theColdplay concert.
That was two weeks ago.
We've all seen it, we've alltalked about it Two executives,
a kiss cam, chris Martin, and aninternet pile-on the former CEO
of Astronomer, andy Byron, andHuman Resources Executive,
kristen Cabot.
(01:29):
Both have resigned.
I have the word resigned in airquotes if you could see me with
my fingers in the air.
The story made headlineseverywhere, but that's now
secondary to what everyone istalking about this week, but
that's now secondary to whateveryone is talking about this
week, the eh, or as I call it,the stunt and if you agree with
(01:50):
me or not, I think we can bothagree that we can call it the
strategy.
Enter Gwyneth Paltrow's nowviral appearance as Astronomer's
temporary spokesperson that'sin air quotes as well was cheeky
high gloss and it was PRengineered.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
She answered.
Well.
Okay, just take a listen.
Astronomer has gotten a lot ofquestions over the last few days
and they wanted me to answerthe most common ones.
Yes, astronomer is the bestplace to run Apache Airflow.
There is still room available.
At our Beyond Analytics eventin September, we will now be
returning to what we do bestdelivering game-changing results
for our customers.
Thank you for your interest inAstronomer.
Molly McPherson (02:35):
Important to note.
She never once referenced theactual issue that landed the
company in hot water.
Not that we expected her to,but that omission.
What's the point?
The ad reframed the moment.
It repackaged a scandal into aclever marketing bump.
But here's the truth.
That ad was entirelyunnecessary.
If Astronomer had addressed theissue early with integrity and
(02:59):
transparency, this kind of mediaspin wouldn't have been needed.
For reference, last week'spodcast episode I have a link in
the show notes.
I discuss exactly why theentire viral mishegas happened,
and it's because they made amassive misstep by not
addressing that fake CEOstatement.
(03:21):
That's what triggered thealgorithm.
That's why everybody wastalking about it.
There's also a number of socialmedia posts of mine in TikTok,
instagram, linkedin and Substack.
You can check those out in theshow notes as well.
Now here's something that Ihaven't said yet about this
matter.
We have two 50-somethingsgetting together, married or not
(03:41):
.
I still don't think it'snewsworthy that a CEO and the
chief people officer maybe,maybe not had an affair.
That duck and cover at aColdplay concert yeah, that's
what made it newsworthy viralnewsworthy, but it's still
private.
Chris Martin outing someone wholooked like they're having an
(04:03):
affair.
Viral For public consumption,definitely, but what's going on
with the two of them?
Not necessarily.
No one knows the status of AndyByron and Kristen Cabot's
relationship.
Yes, according to press reports, they were both quote-unquote
married, but were they separatedfrom their spouses?
It's possible that one or bothhave already filed for divorce.
(04:24):
This could have been acelebratory date.
We may learn the truth laterdown the road, but it won't
matter, because their names arenow forever associated with
their story.
Their names are mud, and here'sthe bottom line up front.
I'm just not diggingastronomers' crisis management
strategy at all.
Is there a problem with the CEOgetting together with his chief
(04:47):
people officer?
Yeah, that's huge.
On my girls weekend last weekand if you saw my social media
posts, you saw me talk about itwe chit-chatted a lot about this
and if you were following anyof my lives on Substack, you
know that I got really close tothe inner circle, so I
definitely know things that arenot public.
(05:08):
We had a very spiritedconversation about this, but the
one thing we all agree on isthis when you have the CEO and
the head of HR together in arelationship and it's a hidden
relationship that creates awhole lot of problems for the
company because anyone who waslet go or reprimanded by Chris
and Cabot.
They now have a legal standingagainst Astronomer for a false
(05:29):
firing or a false reprimand,whatever it is.
So those two getting togetherabsolutely caused a problem.
That's the crisis, not the factthat two people who worked
together came together and wereouted by Chris Martin.
That's not the issue.
The crisis is that a CEO and achief people officer were outed
by Chris Martin.
That's not the issue.
The crisis is that a CEO and achief people officer were outed.
That's the problem.
Now let's move on to astronomersusing humor as a shield.
(05:54):
That ad, maximum Effort, theagency behind the ad.
And, by the way, I justfinished an interview with NPR
for All Things Considered thataired on Monday.
I flubbed maximum effort.
I cannot tell you how much Istruggled saying it and now it
flows effortlessly out of mymouth.
But it is more than a punchlinefactory, because it was
(06:15):
co-founded by friend of thepodcast not really Ryan Reynolds
and a former president of adigital marketing company.
But their company has built areputation for this rapid
response, culturally timedcampaigns.
So its name is a nod to RyanReynolds' character in Deadpool.
So the strategy of the company?
(06:36):
It's called fast-fertizing.
They call it agile productionthat mirrors the pace of social
media.
I'm not a fan of Ryan Reynoldsbut I'll give him credit for
this concept.
Now a lot of other companieshave the same concept but
because it's Ryan Reynolds, tiedinto his Hollywood persona, his
fame along with his wife's fame.
(06:57):
You remember he had Aviation Gin.
He made big money off of that.
That company did the adcampaign.
They did a Peloton parody onMatchcom.
They also did the response toChris Noth.
Remember in Just Like that, theTV show, the spinoff from Sex
and the City, when Chris Nothhad a heart attack on the
(07:19):
Peloton?
Sorry if I'm spoiling that foryou, which, by the way, it's
just coming to my mind right now.
I think I did.
I met the person who worked forthe agency that handled the
Peloton when that whole thinghappened and no one had any idea
that that was coming down thepike.
So, maximum effort.
They're the ones who couldquickly turn things around.
(07:40):
It's a successful company.
We will give that to RyanReynolds.
So this Gwyneth fits theplaybook.
It's a successful company.
We will give that to RyanReynolds.
So this Gwyneth fits theplaybook.
It's swiftly produced.
Tone, perfect time, just right.
People liked it and I talkedabout it in a social media post.
As I mentioned, my girlfriendsand I were talking about it on
our girls weekend to thevineyard.
We all agreed Great ad.
(08:01):
It definitely hit a note and,from the comments on my social
media, most people liked it.
I still stand by it, though itwas not the right response for
what Astronomer was dealing with.
So the ad was well produced andwhat Gwyneth was doing fine.
But it was pure PR deflectionBecause, first of all, as I said
(08:21):
, none of it was necessary.
Remember what I said in thebeginning none of it was
necessary.
Remember what I said in thebeginning none of it was
necessary.
We didn't even have to do that.
Had astronomer managed theinternal problem quietly,
transparently, with leadership,the deflection wouldn't have
been needed.
But don't forget, that's thereason why we had this ad in the
first place.
Instead we did get a campaignthat was funny.
I didn't think it was thatfunny, but I was not amused by
(08:44):
it.
But I'll still call it funny if.
But it left all theaccountability on the cutting
room floor.
So I get it.
The public's amused by it.
They're not outraged, they'renot skeptical, they're just
amused.
So some people could say, hey,that's a win-win.
But for the people in mycomments who said they didn't
like it because it was a PRdeflection and it wasn't working
(09:06):
for them, brava, there is noshame to the people who liked it
because it was designed to makeyou like it.
But for my PR types I'm gladthat you could see right through
it.
Why Gwyneth?
Why now?
Well, there's timing here worthnoting Amy O'Dell's biography
Gwyneth.
The biography dropped yesterday, july 29th, a deeply reported,
(09:30):
possibly unflattering look atPaltrow's life, from the 90s
Hollywood all the way to Goop.
Gwyneth Paltrow whether youlike her or not, she's
polarizing.
She's just one of thosecelebrities that is not
universally well-liked.
For every person that likes her, I would argue there's like a
handful of people who don't likeher.
We've already seen some of theleaks from the book come out
(09:54):
already.
It doesn't mean that GwynethPaltrow is going to have a
massive negative backlash withthis book, but it's going to
remind people of why they don'tlike Gwyneth Paltrow, because
there's just other stories there.
So there is no doubt in my mindthat Gwyneth Paltrow doing this
ad it's a reminder that she'sin on the joke.
(10:14):
Before the press cycle spinsback up, the conscious uncoupled
Chris Martin, her ex-husband.
He has Martin and Coldplay byfar their streams.
Everything has been roses forColdplay and Chris Martin.
(10:39):
But Gwyneth she's polarizing.
It could help her, but it'salso going to hurt her.
Either way, she did control thenarrative and that's not
nothing.
But does PR deflection work Inthe short term?
Yes, as I mentioned, based onmy social media comments, people
found the ad amusing, butamusing doesn't equal absolution
.
Let's just compare a coupleexamples.
(11:02):
A few years ago, kfc UK cameout with a campaign that was on
Twitter Not X, but it wasTwitter.
They decided to deflect thatcrisis with humor.
They called their campaign aquote FCK end quote bucket
campaign.
I have a link to the tweet inthe show notes.
That worked.
(11:22):
They got great press from thatPR deflection.
That is when PR deflectionworks.
Another example that is when PRdeflection works.
Another example Barack Obamawith the birth certificate
controversy.
In 2011, at a White Housecorrespondence dinner, obama
addressed the conspiracytheories about his birthplace by
(11:43):
revealing a clip from Disney'sthe Lion King.
Tonight, for the first time, Iam releasing my official birth
video.
Oh well, back to square one.
(12:05):
That was a humorous turn and anevent that really worships at
the altar of humor frompoliticians Also George W Bush
another case of self-deprecation.
Bush often pokes fun at his ownverbal gaffes, like
mispronunciations, like placingemphasis on the wrong syllable.
(12:26):
These types of jokes divertattention from criticisms about
his intellect.
That's a PR crisis for Bush,his intellect being secondary in
his presidential campaign.
But when he makes fun ofhimself, he makes himself appear
more approachable by diffusingthe harsher attacks and people
like that.
But astronomers issue it's aCEO involved with the head of HR
(12:49):
.
That's a power imbalance thatbrings up ethical questions,
potential legal implications.
That's not something you jokeyour way out of.
And no, there's no way that thisad is going to increase sales.
Will it increase impressions?
Will it increase namerecognition?
Absolutely?
I was asked on the All ThingsConsidered NPR interview
(13:11):
wouldn't you agree that everyonethat no one was familiar with
Astronomer?
And now everyone is?
Absolutely, and maybe it mightget more people to show up at
their Beyond Analytics event inSeptember that Gwyneth Paltrow
pushed in the ad.
But long-term credibility,that's a different conversation.
Take new data from my newpodcast partner, muckrack.
(13:33):
They have a study that showsthat 27% of all citations across
AI models are from journalisticcontent.
That number climbs to 30% whenlooking at links that AI tools
actively cite.
When we think of press mentions, it's not just the internet
anymore, it's also AI.
So when you're plugging intoPerplexity or ChatGPT or even
(13:55):
MuckRack, you work in PR and youwant background information on
this story about astronomer,it's going to skim stories from
AI.
So, yes, the impressions willdefinitely be there, but does
that equal Sam's?
So what is being deflected here?
A CEO involved with a personresponsible for hiring and
firing A board that supportedboth, and a company trying to
(14:19):
move on without offeringaccountability.
And now a celebrityspokesperson is trying to smooth
things over.
Anyone who's ever beenreprimanded by Chris and Cabot
has every right to question thatoutcome now, and they might
even do it legally.
Here's another reason why Ithink Astronomer's crisis PR
strategy from the beginning waswrong, and that's the interim
(14:39):
CEO, pete DeJoy.
Now he stepped in as theinterim CEO from Andy Byron, but
Pete DeJoy was a co-founder.
Here's an excerpt from astatement that he posted on July
21st into helping build, andthen he goes on to talk about
(15:02):
what happened with the companyover the past few years.
Then he says the events of thepast few days have received a
level of media attention thatfew companies, let alone
startups, in our small corner ofthe data and AI world ever
encounter the spotlight has beenunusual and surreal for our
team, and, while I would neverhave wished for it to happen
like this, astronomer is now ahousehold name.
(15:23):
At Astronomer, we have nevershied away from challenges.
A near decade of building thisbusiness has tested us time and
time again and each time we'veemerged stronger.
A couple things to point out inthere.
Astronomer has been around for10 years.
Did you know about Astronomerbefore 10 days ago?
No, the fact that they'rementioning the event of the past
few days receiving a level ofmedia attention that few
(15:44):
companies, let alone startups,ever have.
Next, mentioning thatastronomer is now a household
name.
I think there is a level ofPete DeJoy taking joy out of
what's happening with thecompany In this statement.
There is nothing about whathappened there, the breakdown
(16:06):
that happened there, the ethicalbreakdown that happened there.
They're trying to gloss over itand it's something that can't
be forgotten.
The statement said astronomeris now a household name.
True, but now, for the reasonsa CEO or an interim CEO should
want, I had to look at hisbackground because I work with a
lot of CEOs in crisis and I canusually tell right off the bat
(16:28):
what their background is, and Inailed it on this one.
I thought, as soon as I look upthis guy, I know the background
is going to be from one side ofthe brain.
He went to Bowdoin great school.
He has degrees in chemistry andphysics.
That makes him a great personfor chemistry and physics and
for starting a company 10 yearsago.
(16:48):
He's clearly brilliant, butthat doesn't necessarily make
him the right person to managereputation.
Pr isn't about IQ, it's aboutEQ.
It's about understandingculture.
It's about understandingreputation.
And he may not have written theentire playbook about hiring
maximum effort, about hiringGwyneth Paltrow, about not
(17:10):
putting out any type of releaseto quash the fake CEO posts that
went out there, but if he didor not, he certainly approved it
or someone on the board did,and it shows this was a misstep
from the beginning.
They were using just logicwhere leadership required
empathy.
Yes, it's true, everyone hasheard about Astronomer, but
(17:31):
would you invest in a companywhose crisis plan rests on Ryan
Reynolds and a punchline?
I wouldn't.
Oh, you think I forgot tomention Ryan Reynolds?
This is a podcast about PRdeflection.
Why wouldn't I mention RyanReynolds?
Because Maximum Effort mademaximum effort to make sure that
everyone knew that they werebehind this viral ad.
(17:51):
I found it on X because I wasfollowing breadcrumbs and when I
landed there, I noticed one.
I haven't spent any time on Xbecause I have so many
notifications on X.
So many people have been tryingto reach me on X, but this is
where I saw their post and Iposted this to Instagram and
TikTok and Substack as well.
This is what it said Thank youfor your interest in maximum
(18:12):
effort at Astro Mario.
That's the X account forastronomer.
We'll now get back to what wedo best Motion pictures with
Hugh Jackman, faster vising andWrexham football.
So all these plugs, everythingthat's Ryan Reynolds affiliated,
we'll leave data workflowautomation too.
And then they strike outGwyneth Pall you know PA
(18:35):
astronomer.
And then it's a link to the ad.
That is classic Ryan Reynoldswit.
He inserted himself in thestory because why wouldn't he?
Because he's a part of amassive PR crisis, and that is
the it Ends With Us PR crisisthat his wife, blake Lively, is
stuck in the middle of alongwith him, and I think it's all
(18:56):
because of Ryan Reynolds in thefirst place.
And that thing goes on and on.
A lot of people have notforgotten about it.
He does want people to forgetabout it, but he wants the
internet to forget about it aswell, because these things still
have a way of pushing downother stories.
This kind of quippy humor isvery Ryan Reynolds, very Gwyneth
Paltrow, and that's why theyboth did it.
(19:16):
So in the short term, does itwork?
Sure, I get it.
I'm not gonna shame anyone whothinks it's great.
I'm with you, I get it.
But for my PR types, the peoplein the comments who kind of can
see through the efforts hereand what they're doing that's
what I pay attention to.
So what this means for leaderswatching this whole thing play
out.
One humor can soften a blow,but it won't rebuild trust.
(19:41):
Two, faster advising worksuntil it doesn't.
It's fast, it comes on fast,but it goes away just as fast.
Faster vising works, but itgoes away as easy as it comes.
And three, when public trusterodes, clever isn't enough.
(20:02):
So if you're a leader in acrisis or you are counseling
leadership in a crisis, thepublic does not want
entertainment, they want truth,they want responsibility.
So for anyone who works instrategy or has the ear of
someone in strategy, use thisstory as a case study.
If you're under pressure, askyourself who needs to be heard,
(20:25):
not who.
Can we hire to distract?
Because clever isn't clean anddistraction isn't a strategy of
my content about this topic.
If you need to use it in thefuture, definitely check out the
(20:46):
show notes for all the linksand my thanks to my podcast
partner Muckrack.
It is the PR platform that Iuse to find all the links to all
the stories and all thejournalists talking about these
trending stories.
Thanks to them, I could givethe story to you in a podcast.
That's all for this week.
Thanks so much for listening.
(21:08):
Bye for now.
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