People Are Confused To The Point Of Being Gobsmacked Over Reports That Warner Bros Discovery Will Rebrand HBO Max As ‘Max’

It’s been a whirlwind ride for the Streaming Wars over the past few years, to say the very least. In 2020, HBO Max was born after a rebranding from both the HBO Go and HBO Now platforms, and as everyone knows, the world is a very different place now. With economic upheaval ongoing and a restructuring into Warner Bros Discovery, the service has now absorbed even more content and is now reportedly poised for another shift.

Surely, the idea of thinking up a new name wasn’t an enjoyable task, but what will apparently be rolling out as a rebranding is a head scratcher.

Word rolled out this week (and has since been confirmed by WBD) that HBO Max and Discovery will join streaming forces and be known simply as “Max.” This will be a place where people can not only stream HBO prestige series and ratings juggernauts like House of the Dragon and Succession but also [deep breath] MILF Manor and Dr. Pimple Popper. It’s a bit wild to think about, and “Max” makes me think of Cinemax as well, which does at least suggest the old regime, albeit with a very adult connotation.

Yet the new name is also overall a bit confusing because the “HBO” is the most recognizable, event-TV-focused piece of the equation. The rebranding would be virtually erasing (from a brand perspective) the highest-quality content from the label. Let’s just say that no one can figure out why the “HBO Max” part needs to be changed at all. In other words, “Max” might be breaking what isn’t broken.

https://twitter.com/richardlnewby/status/1645832756297973760

People will probably still keep saying “HBO Max” for quite some time. However, one user wondered, “Did Elon buy this company,” which might be a harsh, but that’s how the Internet (i.e., the audience) might see things.

https://twitter.com/tkoa702/status/1645998845036470273

We should find out soon whether “Max” is really the new label. The streaming realm is a strange place!

UPDATE – 1:30pm EST: The move has been confirmed, and here’s the official Max video announcement.