At the weekend, tech company Astronomer turned to Gwyneth Paltrow in the wake of the recent Coldplay kiss cam scandal to “address” frequently asked questions.

And we turned to a range of industry professionals to see if it worked.

In the 60-second promotional video, created by Ryan Reynolds’ production house Maximum Effort, Paltrow says she was hired on a “very temporary basis” as its spokesperson, thanking people for their “interest” in Astronomer.

The Goop CEO and ex-wife of Coldplay’s Chris Martin doesn’t exactly address the questions everyone is asking, however. Instead she takes the opportunity to tell people what Astronomer is and what it offers to customers.

As of publication, the video has amassed over 36 million views on X alone.

Here, leading PR and crisis communications experts weigh in on the company’s approach to crisis management, and if the stunt has paid off.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s move to join Astronomer as an advisor may seem like an unlikely match at first glance, but in reality, it’s a masterclass in modern brand alignment.

For Astronomer, whose focus is on making data orchestration more accessible and relevant, tapping into Paltrow’s mainstream cultural cachet is a way to humanise and popularise a space that has traditionally been seen as highly technical. It reframes data as something not just for engineers, but for innovators and positions Astronomer as a brand unafraid to do things differently.

From a PR and crisis communications perspective, it’s a high-risk, high-reward play. Paltrow is polarising — her association with Goop and wellness pseudoscience often draws criticism, so aligning with her could raise eyebrows in Silicon Valley. But she also commands an enormous audience and has a proven ability to spark conversation. If Astronomer’s goal is attention and disruption, they’ve nailed the brief. The challenge now will be in clearly articulating how Paltrow’s involvement is more than just celebrity sizzle, otherwise the move could be dismissed as gimmickry.

Ultimately, it’s a headline-grabbing choice that invites scrutiny – and that may be exactly what Astronomer wants. In a crowded tech landscape, attention is currency. The key now is to show substance behind the splash.

Gwyneth Paltrow stepping in to front Astronomer’s crisis response wasn’t just celebrity for celebrity’s sake. It was a bold, high-gloss strategic recalibration that gave people something new to talk about, and it … worked.

In a sea of sterile apologies and vanilla holding statements, the move was cheeky, unexpected, and tonally spot-on. While it wasn’t quite a masterclass in reputation recovery — the messaging delivered by Paltrow raised more questions about Astronomer’s offering than it answered — it proved that well-timed surprise can reset a conversation entirely.

And frankly, it was probably the only thing that could’ve worked after Astronomer’s radio silence in the critical days post-incident. Hats off to their PR engine for turning it around somewhat.

Much has been debated on crisis management regarding Astronomer, but it is the internal and external communications strategy moving forward that will ensure the brand’s reputation recovery, shifting the latest ‘spokesperson’ move by Maximum Effort and Astronomer from gimmick to........

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