Unless you live off the grid, for which I applaud you, you likely have heard about the CEO caught canoodling with the chief people officer (insert joke here) at the Coldplay concert a few weeks ago. I’m not going to weigh in on morality, entitlement and like, duh, maybe don’t do that. I’m not perfect by a long shot. I mean, I just fell for a phone scam after all. But what I will talk about is Astronomer’s rebound from the crisis!
Thanks to the ingenuity and chutzpah of Ryan Reynolds’ production company Maximum Effort,Astronomer used an all-eyes-on-them moment, as an opportunity. Rather than hiding from it, they took the situation and used humor to reach a much wider audience. The stroke of genius of hiring Gwyneth Paltrow, as their “temporary spokesperson,” was inspired on several levels. Not only is she the former spouse of Coldplay’s Chris Martin, she’s also the woman who popularized the phrase “conscious uncoupling,” in their divorce.
Here’s the ad in case you’ve missed it. There’s the casting, and then there’s the execution. Which is also brilliant. As a humor enthusiast, there are so many comedy principles at play here, that it actually gave me chills watching it. Because I sometimes get pushback about humor in business - it’s not that important, it’s not appropriate, it’s just a distraction. And yet here it is. According to the NY Times, Astronomer’s Instagram presence jumped from 135 likes to 64,000. As of Monday afternoon it has already been viewed more than half a million times.
Such a perfect use of humor - the kind that makes people laugh but doesn’t punch down or pull status. Making the bold choice not to hide from crisis but to use it.
Here’s a quick checklist of what they used to land this:
- Knowing your audience
- Responding with authenticity - acknowledging what people are thinking
- Having a sense of humor about yourself - communicates confidence
- Using mistakes as an opportunity to grow brand recognition through shared laughter.
If you catch me on the road this fall, you will likely hear me reference Gwyneth - bringing to mind yet another comedy tool, the element of surprise.
