Ryan Reynolds is widely known for headlining films like Deadpool, The Proposal and The Adam Project as an actor, yet he has also emerged as a skilled marketer. With that, he’s become quite savvy when it comes to crafting commercials. Reynolds put those skills to use months ago when he produced an ad for Astronomer, the company embroiled in that Coldplay kiss cam situation. While Reynolds’ jokey ad, which features Gwyneth Paltrow, nods at the controversy, there’s also a keen reason for him wanting to make it.
For those who need context, during a Coldplay concert this past July, now-former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was spotted with his arms around Kristin Cabot, a Human Resources exec for the company. The two were seen via a kiss cam and, once the screen showed them, they attempted to hide. Amid the now-viral situation, the aforementioned band’s lead singer, Chris Martin, mused that the two may be having an “affair.” Both Cabot and Byron later stepped down from their respective positions.
The previously mentioned ad, which debuted just weeks after the concert moment, was produced by Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort production banner. Of course, Reynolds and co. were aware of the Byron/Cabot situation as evidenced by Gwyneth Paltrow (who was married to Chris Martin for nearly 13 years) jokingly alluding to the controversy in the ad. However, Reynolds explained during the Wall Street Journal’s CMO Council Summit (via People) that he wanted the ad to be more informative than satirical:
Just 14 hours later, I’m paying for that, [and I didn’t] have their blessing yet, but I [knew] that nobody at that time … knew what Astronomer does. So I was like, ‘What if Gwyneth explained it?’
Astronomer is a startup company founded in 2018 that assists companies in finding efficient ways to calculate and manage data. The organization’s goals are what apparently motivated the Spirited star to produce a commercial that explains what the group does:
It turns out, Astronomer’s an amazing company. They really do some amazing stuff. But it was a real opportunity for them to take the conversation away from where it was, which was quite toxic, I think, and really focus on something that mattered in a way that was fun and easy and emotional and lovely.
That’s an affable reason for wanting to create a commercial like this and, while the ad is legitimately funny, it also sheds light on the company at the center of it. Check it out:
Honestly, it’s been interesting to see just how skilled Ryan Reynolds and his team have been when it comes to marketing. I don’t know how the multihyphenate and his team do it, but they just consistently find fun ways to advertise. Among their best productions are that viral Mint Mobile commercial involving Rick Moranis and that Aviation Gin ad that lampoons Hot Frosty. The Father’s Day ad from Reynolds’ gin brand is very funny as well.
That Astronomer commercial isn’t the only way in which the situation has been nodded at either. Film production company Neon also touched on the scandal with a piece of marketing for the horror film Together. The concert faux pas became so famous that even NFL fans mentioned it when watching a fan rushing out of the sightline of a stadium camera during a Bills/Patriots game earlier this fall.
Jokes aside, the kiss cam situation resulted in significant ramifications not just for Astronomer but for Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot’s lives and careers. Keeping that in mind, it’s admirable that Ryan Reynolds sought to turn a negative into a positive using his commercial.