When it bowed in 2020, HBO Max got off to a rocky start. Hell, it had a rocky first several months: Warner Bros.’ big streamer wasn’t even available to stream on Roku until late December of that year. But once it worked out the kinks, it distinguished itself as arguably the finest mainstream streaming service. The glory days didn’t last, though, and not only is it now missing some of what were its best treasures, but it’s also now got a new, confusion-brewing name. That what’s got it trolled by some of the competition.
I know you’re all very disappointed, but I will *not* be dropping the first half of my name any time soon 👀
— Peacock (@peacock) May 23, 2023
On Tuesday, HBO Max was officially rechristened as simply Max. Suddenly subscribers had to update their app or, if they’re streaming on their computer, start going to a new url. There were some outage problems. And there was Peacock, NBC Universal’s own chaotic streamer, using the occasion to make a dirty joke: “I know you’re all very disappointed, but I will *not* be dropping the first half of my name any time soon.”
It’s a good joke, racy in a way that won’t get the Twitter team in trouble, and just punchy enough against Warner Bros. Discovery that it draws some blood.
It’s not the only time in the last couple of days that the company has drawn ridicule: Current honcho David Zaslav got loudly and repeatedly booed while giving a college commencement speech amidst the WGA strike. Or maybe they were mad that he effectively deleted the almost completed Batgirl.
(Via Deadline)
