Lessons From the Coldplay Concert for Churches

The CEO of the tech platform Astronomer lost his career and became a national laughingstock when he was briefly featured on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert with a woman who wasn’t his wife. CEO Andy Byron, and several others resigned.

Within days, the company produced a short video starring celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow, which used humor to divert attention from the CEO back to the company. The video went viral, garnering more than 36 million views on X and more than 540,000 views on YouTube after it was released. Phil Cooke, a Christian filmmaker and commentator, believes churches can learn several lessons from this example.

• “In an instant message, social media world, organizations today must respond faster to a crisis, because it can escalate to a global stage within minutes, and people want answers. When you struggle to communicate effectively in the first few days, you start losing serious trust with your congregation, donors and the general public  Not responding immediately can easily blow up into a crisis of its own. That’s why you need to have a relationship with a communications expert as much as an attorney.”
• “Be honest. In the Astronomer video, they didn’t defend the CEO or his actions. They knew it had been seen on millions of video screens, so that ship had already sailed. They kept the focus on the company, not the problem.”

• “Be careful with humor. The Paltrow approach worked in this case, but if the crisis is a moral or sexual issue — especially abuse — it’s obviously not appropriate for a church or ministry to respond with humor  However, it may be suitable for other problems. But either way, be very careful. Humor in the wrong place can create more blowback than the original crisis.”
• “Focus on the future. Whatever went wrong, went wrong. Deal with it. If necessary, call the authorities, consult your legal team and take action. But at the same time, don’t forget to focus the congregation, donors and general public on the future. What changes are we making to ensure this never happens again, and what’s our ongoing vision for the future?”

“In my experience, church and ministry leaders are often oblivious to the possibility of a crisis, even though these problems are frequently highlighted in the media nearly every week.”
Cooke said “The churches and ministry organizations that respond immediately are honest, don’t deflect and have a plan are the ones who are more likely to keep the trust of the congregation, donors and sometimes, even the skeptics.”

–Alan Goforth