Tuesday is the day that Warner Bros. Discovery formally dropped the “HBO” from HBO Max. Naturally people have had a lot of fun at Max’s expense today, including NBCUniversal’s rival streaming service Peacock, whose social media team clearly has its mind in the gutter. Not that we’re complaining.
Peacock’s Twitter account joined in on the fun with a joke implying what would happen if it also dropped the first half of its name. Yes, it’s exactly the joke you’re assuming. It’s OK, everyone is 12 today.
“I know you’re all very disappointed, but I will *not* be dropping the first half of my name any time soon,” the tweet read.
HA! Get it? Get it?? They’re talking about roosters. Wait, no, hang on.
If you’re just catching up, from now on Max, which came into existence when HBO Max was merged with WBD’s other premium app, Discovery+. It’s a weird change, considering that Max’s slogan is “The One to Watch,” with one variation being “The One to Watch for HBO,” but whatever.
The company has received quite a bit of criticism for the decision to drop “HBO” from its service’s name since it officially announced the shift last month.
To make things worse, many users reported login errors and app-crashing on the first day of the rebranded “Max” app’s rollout Tuesday, though a Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson said the “minor” issues have been “quickly remedied.”
HBO will remain as a brand within the larger “Max”-verse, but will be looped in with Discovery+ programming on the new service (though that programming does not appear to be front-and-center in the app). Existing HBO Max subscribers will still be able to access Max at the same price as their current subscription and can access their current plan features for a minimum of six months following its launch. HBO Max subscribers’ profiles, settings, watch history, “Continue Watching” and “My List” items will also migrate to Max, so they can pick up streaming right where they left off.
