"Millions of people around the world are intimately acquainted with what happened that fateful day: the co-workers were caught cuddling and then jumping apart in horror on Coldplay's kiss cam. Attention spans are short and fresh memes are minted daily. Unfortunately for Byron and Cabot, this wasn't just another meme; the video of their shocked reaction contained all the ingredients of a viral moment with unusual staying power."
"First, there was the format: the clip uploaded on social media by a fellow concert-goer was only a few seconds long and easy to recreate. Then there were the protagonists: Byron was the married CEO of software company Astronomer and Cabot was the head of HR. Inequality is at record levels and eat-the-rich narratives are everywhere; everyone loves the chance to hate on wealthy tech types."
"Every baseball team in the US seemed to have a bash at re-enacting the moment on stadium big screens. The first high-profile parody was by the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team's mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, who mocked the pair's panicked reaction on the JumboTron at Citizens Bank Park. The stadium also played an audio clip of Coldplay's Chris Martin's reaction: Uh-oh, what? Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy."
On 16 July 2025, Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot were filmed reacting on Coldplay's kiss cam in Boston. The short clip uploaded by a concert-goer went viral because it was brief, easy to recreate, and featured Byron, the CEO of Astronomer, and Cabot, head of HR. The moment fed contempt toward wealthy tech figures amid inequality narratives. Many stadiums and teams recreated the reaction, including a Phillie Phanatic JumboTron parody that played Chris Martin's line: Uh-oh, what? Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy. Stephen Colbert amplified the meme on late-night television and his show was cancelled days after he criticised Paramount's $16m settlement with Trump.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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