Even lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow isn’t too proud to post the occasional sponsored content to her social media. But what do you get when you take an ad filmed by a technology-challenged Gen Xer and her teenager steaming milk in the background? The best celebrity-sponsored post in the history of the internet.
If you’ve been scrolling on TikTok this week, perhaps you’ve seen the ad for Seed - a probiotic company - filmed by none other than the Goop founder herself. The clip begins just like any other sponsored post: Paltrow films herself in her kitchen facing towards the camera, the script from her phone reflecting off her black frame eyeglasses.
She then places the large, green probiotic pill in her mouth, before quickly taking it out and launching into the sales pitch: “So this is a 24-strain probiotic, not the kind you find in yoghurt and stuff like that.”
However, her sponsored video is interrupted by the sound of an espresso machine, one typically found coming from a barista. Instead, it’s her 17-year-old son Moses, who she shares with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
“Moses is steaming some milk,” she informs viewers, before returning to the scripted probiotic spiel. “It’s so good for bloating and regularity…”
Then, the clip abruptly ends - almost as if it was cut short on purpose and Paltrow refused to do another take. This may be the case, considering Seed decided to post the seemingly unfinished ad to its TikTok account.
Now, social media users are confused, as many wonder whether Paltrow’s “zero effort” video was purposefully bad or if it was simply a “genius” marketing move.
On TikTok, several users commended Seed’s partnership with the stealth wealth icon. “Dying. She really said I’m gonna get paid either way. They get one take,” said one person.
“Honestly, genius. I mean I’ll never buy it but I watched this seven times,” another fan wrote.
“Her zero effort promo is giving me life. These are the ads I want,” a third user said.
Meanwhile on X - formerly known as Twitter - many people hyper-fixated on Paltrow’s son steaming milk in the background of the video.
“Moses is steaming some milk is my new mantra,” one person tweeted.
“I immediately wondered if Moses’s milk was cow milk or other. I need answers,” someone else proclaimed.
“Not the point but he’s doing such a bad, bad job of steaming that milk,” another wrote. “Horrible technique, no training at all.”
As for social media professionals, some were horrified by the ad’s simple-but-effective approach.
“As someone who works in influencer marketing, I bet you this ad performed higher than the polished one because we all stopped and watched,” said one person, while another tweeted: “As a former social media manager, I would have cried when I got this back.”
For Paltrow - who boasts 8.3m followers on Instagram and is the leader behind a $250m wellness and lifestyle brand - her innocuous sponsored post is just another example of how she’s remained unattainable yet affable.
Perhaps this was best seen in April this year, when Paltrow became an internet sensation for the memorable ski crash trial in Utah. With one-liners like, “Well, I lost a half day of skiing,” she was praised by public relations experts for her ability to seem “authentic” while on the stand.
Her social media presence is also the gift that keeps on giving. Earlier this month, she finally gave fans what they’ve all been hoping for: a tour of her fridge. In the video, Paltrow explained that she had received a lot of questions about what’s in her fridge from her fans: “I guess this is a trend,” she joked.
Eagle-eyed fans pointed out that her fridge was stocked with her own brand, Equi Tea, and cans of celebrity friend Cameron Diaz’s wine, Avaline. There were also cans of kombucha from Yerba Mate Tea, as well as LaCroix sparkling water in two flavours, Italian Pellegrino water, Fever Tree tonic water, Japanese beer by Sapporo and Kirin, and even her own Goop skin products.
As for what type of milk her son Moses could’ve possibly been steaming in the sponsored video for Seed, Paltrow also detailed all of the milk products in her fridge: “Heavy cream, there’s half and half, there’s regular milk plus almond milk. The full spectrum of milks here in the old Paltrow-Martin house.”
