Max is dead. Long live HBO Max again.
For those not following along with this rebranding debacle, here’s a timeline of events. Back in 2020, Warner Bros. Discovery officially launched its streaming service, HBO Max. Three years later, the studio dropped the “HBO” and rebranded its app as simply Max, prompting widespread confusion among users, celebrities, and nearly everyone who thought the change was unnecessary. Now, as of July 9, the studio has reversed course, officially re-rebranding Max back to its original name: HBO Max.
The Internet, never one to let something as silly as a re-rebrand go unnoticed, responded in kind. Since the studio first announced its proposed name change in May, memes, jokes, and side-eyes have flooded social media. “HBO Pro Max Ultra Elite coming soon,” commented one Reddit user on the name change. “HBO is going through yet another identity crisis,” wrote one X user.
Interestingly, a lot of the memes surrounding the rebrand are coming from Max (excuse me, HBO Max) itself. The platform has posted several memes poking fun at itself since its July 9 relaunch, and many more since May. “This is the day we make it happen,” the platform wrote in an Instagram post announcing the change, complete with a video clip of Succession’s Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) psyching himself up in the backseat of his car.
Another HBO Max Instagram post featured the opening scene of The Rehearsal, captioned: “The man behind the HBO Max switch.”
The platform even posted a few celebrity reactions to the name change. “Hi HBO Max, I heard that you changed your pronouns back to HBO Max, love that,” said drag queen Trixie Mattel in an Instagram post. “I’ve been accidentally calling you HBO Max this whole time, so welcome back!” “It’s not TV, it’s HBO — no, it’s HBO Max. No, wait, it’s Max. No, it’s HBO Max,” said The Pitt’s Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) in a separate video.
However, the rebrand hasn’t been without its hiccups. A technical glitch on X temporarily blocked the platform from updating its username. “Twitter won’t let me change my name back,” HBO Max joked in a tweet. By Thursday morning, the bug was officially resolved, and HBO Max was officially back.
