How Coldplay designed its concerts to create the exact viral moment that brought down the Astronomer execs

The cringe viral moment between a CEO and his HR chief at a Coldplay concert last week was more than a year in the making — and actually the result of a savvy marketing strategy by the band.

“Fix You” crooner Chris Martin began pushing the camera on fans at live shows and serenading them individually with impromptu lyrics in January 2024 during a packed show in Singapore.

Since then, it’s become a major component — to spice up the 28-year-old band’s act, and generate social media buzz.

“It makes fans feel like they are part of the show, rather than just attending the show,” 47-year-old fan Josh Gale told the Wall Street Journal this week.

But ex Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot appeared to wish they were anywhere else when they were featured in an intimate clinch on the big screen at Gillette Stadium outside Boston.

Byron was holding Cabot around the waist before he ducked to the ground while his companion turned her face up in horror.

“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” Martin quipped.

Since the shocking moment that has quickly gained traction across the globe, Byron has resigned while Cabot is reportedly on leave pending an investigation.

It was a mega-viral — if unintended — consequence of Coldplay’s fan-friendly strategy. Thrusting fans into the limelight has typically been less of a controversy, though.

When Martin first raised the idea in Singapore, he gave the audience some fair warning, according to the Journal.

“If you all wanna look at the screens we’re gonna find some of you to say hello,” Martin said, according to a TikTok video of the show.

The camera panned to numerous fans, many of them couples, as Martin riffed off some mini-songs for them.

The fans had ear-to-ear smiles as they gave enthusiastic waves to the stadium. 

“She’s waving from the back, she can’t believe her eyes, I’m talking to you baby, don’t look so surprised, Martin sang to one young woman in disbelief.

The assortment of band-fan interaction can quickly light up the internet because of how natural the moments are, a digital consultant told the Journal.

“Live show clips are more specific, more focused and they haven’t been manufactured or paid for,” ex-TikTok executive Dan Roy Carter who now works for digital consultancy for musicians.

“They have been captured by civilians and uploaded on the merits of being relevant, exciting or compelling.”

The fan portion of last Wednesday’s now infamous show also featured Martin wishing a fan happy birthday and crooning for fans dressed up as bananas, according to more footage captured by Blake Boyer, 18, who was at the show.

He told the Journal, “What Coldplay does is unique.”

But the band seemed to acknowledge some danger in its strategy in the first show after the Gillette Stadium concert — with Martin warning fans in Madison, Wisconsin to get ready for primetime.

“We’d like to say hello to some of you in the crowd, how we gonna do that, is we gonna use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen,” he said.

“So please, if you haven’t done your makeup, do your makeup now.”