When the Viral Moment Ends, the Real Story Begins: Astronomer’s kiss-cam saga & the playbook for post-crisis recovery

Photo credit: Izzy Gibson

The viral moment is over. The press has moved on. Social feeds aren’t flooding your notifications anymore.

For many organizations, this is when they exhale. But in reality, the immediate aftermath of a crisis is one of the most critical periods for shaping long-term perception.

When Coldplay's “kiss cam” caught Astronomer’s CEO and chief people officer in a clip that went viral, the company acted quickly — placing both executives on leave, then accepting their resignations. Within days, they installed a co-founder as interim CEO and signaled operational continuity.

It was a textbook example of decisive crisis containment. But the lasting impact comes after the headlines fade.

The Immediate Aftermath: Closing the Crisis Window

Once the acute crisis phase passes, brands need to shift from firefighting to foundation-building. The key steps include:

1. Internal Stabilization: Reinforcing trust with employees, partners, and customers before they hear new, and potentially false, narratives elsewhere.

2. Leadership Repositioning: Putting forward trusted, credible voices who can both own the brand story and guide the organization forward internally and externally.

3. Message Discipline: Ensuring all communications—from press statements to social media—stay on message, reinforcing the brand’s values and mission.

4. Stakeholder Check-Ins: Engaging directly with priority audiences to assess confidence levels and address lingering concerns.

The Brand Reclaim: Humor as a Reset Button

Astronomer took a distinctive turn here. Instead of disappearing, they reclaimed the narrative with a humor-infused video featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, acknowledging the incident, diffusing tension, and bringing attention back to their core product.

This approach accomplished three things:

• Controlled the Memory – By framing the incident in a playful way, they set the tone for how people would recall it.

• Humanized the Brand – Humor projected confidence without defensiveness.

• Recentered the Conversation – The product, not the scandal, was the final takeaway.

It was an effective way of regaining brand momentum.

Avoiding the “Quiet Fade”

A common post-crisis pitfall is going silent. While silence can stop you from adding fuel to a story, it can also leave space for competitors, critics, or social media to define your recovery.

Instead, this phase should be about:

• Showcasing wins and delivering results to demonstrate operational strength.

• Positioning leadership in thought-leadership channels to rebuild visibility and authority.

• Launching initiatives that reinforce trust and values, especially internally.

Now What? The Post-Recovery Playbook

Once the viral dust settles, a brand enters the trust rebuild phase, which is where the public’s short memory can be both an asset and a trap. 

Here’s what should happen next:

1. Double Down on Core Competence – Every public touchpoint should showcase the brand’s expertise and results, reminding stakeholders why they engaged with you in the first place.

2. Elevate Leadership Visibility – Position the new or interim leader as both a product champion and a steward of culture.

3. Reassess Risk Monitoring – Enhance social listening and internal risk protocols to detect small sparks before they reignite into another crisis.

4. Quietly Strengthen Culture – Use the moment to reinforce values, recalibrate policies, and ensure the internal environment aligns with public commitments.

5. Plan for the Anniversary – Viral moments resurface on their one-year anniversaries. Most brands try to ignore anniversaries, hoping they’ll pass unnoticed. That rarely works, especially if the original moment was meme-worthy.

The Lesson for Communicators

A crisis doesn’t end when the headline disappears. It ends when the audience sees consistent, credible evidence that the organization has moved forward. 

Astronomer’s pivot from scandal to playful self-awareness, followed by a return to product focus, shows how a brand can steer itself from viral distraction back to strategic relevance.

The aftermath is not about “getting past it,” but about turning a moment of disruption into a demonstration of resilience and doing so in a way that strengthens your long-term reputation.

The after-story is the real story, and it’s the one your stakeholders remember.