Communications and marketing in the ‘post-shame, post-truth’ era

“There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” – P.T. Barnum

Working in communications and marketing for more than 20 years, I’ve heard some version of that infamous quote countless times. I always wince. Because it’s just not true. Right?

In 2025, the answer to whether all PR is good PR is complicated. Situations formerly considered to be inarguably bad for a company or public figure are now a bit more … negotiable. That’s probably the right word.

Case in point: the Astronomer debacle. For most of you, I don't need to explain what that is, but if you’ve been living off the grid and think I’m talking about a person who studies the stars, you’re going to be in for quite a shock.

The Astronomer ‘scandal’ timeline:

📺😳 Caught on camera – July 16

During Coldplay’s concert in Foxboro, lead singer Chris Martin instructed the camera operator to scan the crowd for people to appear on the Jumbotron. Fairly standard stuff until Astronomer CEO Andy Byron is caught on camera hugging (canoodling with?) the company’s head of human resources, Kristin Cabot. Their comical reactions to avoid being seen are captured by a concertgoer who posts it to social media.

🚀 Astronomer: from unknown to everywhere – July 18

Two days after the concert, Astronomer announces that the company’s board of directors has launched a “formal investigation” into the matter and that Byron has been placed on leave. The company issues a very serious statement:

“Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability. The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter, and we will have additional details to share very shortly.”

👎 CEO resignation; company deals with fallout – July 19

The inevitable happens as CEO Andy Byron resigns. The concert footage is now mocked in endless memes. If your social media feed didn’t serve this up to you constantly, I have some questions to ask you later.

The viral video continues to be shown around the world, which Astronomer acknowledges in its statement announcing the CEO’s resignation.

“Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI. While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not.”

Pretty vanilla, right? Wait for it ...

🤔 A shift in tone from Astronomer – July 20

“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies — let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world — ever encounter. The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”

I’m starting to sense a change here. Maybe a bit of a leaning into the crisis to promote our brand situation. Wait for it ...

✨ The celebrity spokesperson - July 25

Astronomer goes all in!

In one of the most interesting corporate pivots ever, Gwyneth Paltrow becomes a "very temporary" spokesperson, posting a short satirical video on social media.

Nobody watched it. Just kidding. It was everywhere. If you haven’t seen it, here you go:

We might never know how it happened, but at some point, Astronomer decided the best thing to do would be to join the conversation already happening. Get in on the joke. Instead of being defensive, drive the conversation.

Ethically, was that strategy the right thing to do? That’s arguable. Was it effective? I think clearly it was. The response I’ve gotten from people – both within and outside my profession – has been positive. Scott Galloway called it the "best marketing move of 2025."

PR in the post-shame, post-truth era

“There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” – Oscar Wilde

Sorry it took so long, but we’ve finally arrived at the headline for this blog post.

Millions of people are talking about a company that almost nobody knew of before the Coldplay concert on July 16. Pretty impressive for a company with 300 employees. I still don’t really understand what Astronomer does. However, I would be surprised if this situation doesn’t become a net positive for them in a big way.

Today, there appears to be three primary paths to managing a scandal:

1. Apologize and lay low until it blows over. Work largely behind the scenes to make things right.

2. Deny it happened at all. “It wasn’t me.” “Fake news.” This approach is commonly called lying.

3. Embrace it. All attention should be considered good attention.

These excuses and evasions have been around forever, but I think we’re seeing a lot more examples of the second and third approaches. And we’re certainly seeing a lot less of the first one. That’s not great. Yet, it’s the reality of our era.

A few years ago, I started hearing the phrases “post truth” and “post shame” to describe how people were reacting to PR disasters that would have been unthinkable to try and wriggle out of in past years. I don’t know who coined those descriptors, but they are certainly accurate!

Where do we go from here?

For communicators and marketers, I think it’s going to be more important than ever to work for companies and people who share your values. Keeping tabs on how companies handle missteps – big and small – will be vital when interviewing for jobs or assessing new clients.

How long the “post-truth, post-shame” era will last is uncertain, but I have a feeling it won’t be ending soon.

Stay safe out there and avoid the cameras!

The image that spawned a million memes.