HBO Max backtracks on rebranding and is now making fun of itself

After a short-lived attempt at rebranding as the sleek, standalone 'Max,' Warner Bros. Discovery has officially decided to reunite with a familiar identity. That’s right, HBO is back in the name, just two years after it was unceremoniously dropped like an underperforming pilot.

As expected, the internet responded with immediate and unfiltered energy.

Some users simply asked, 'Who keeps signing off on this?' Others posted memes so good that Max couldn’t resist reposting. One included a screenshot from Girls that basically said: Let’s not mock the brave little brand that tried something different (and failed publicly). The brand also posted a poll which asked users to select the category in which this rebranding would fall.

But Max isn’t just taking the punches, it’s swinging back with full self-aware chaos energy.

There’s the now-iconic Spider-Man meme featuring four versions of the same confused superhero, each labelled HBO Go, HBO Now, HBO Max, and Max, all pointing fingers, none offering clarity. Then there’s a rebrand announcement disguised as a Vatican-style white smoke signal rising from the Warner Bros. water tower (Game of Thrones raven included for dramatic effect).

 

And HBO’s Instagram? It dug into the archives, posting a timeline of its ever-changing logos, capped off with a perfectly unamused Alexa Demie from 'Euphoria' dropping the now-iconic line, “B****, you better be joking.” Honestly, the only appropriate reaction.

Not to be outdone, 'Game of Thrones' jumped into the rebrand chaos too. The show's official account posted a fiery shot of Daenerys emerging from the flames, proudly reimagined as the HBO Max logo itself, with the caption, “A name reclaimed.” Even Jon Snow’s resurrection scene got meme-ified to mark the branding’s dramatic comeback.

So why the sudden identity crisis... again? According to CEO David Zaslav, it’s about growth and reminding people that “HBO” still means something, namely, good TV. Think Game of Thrones, The White Lotus, True Detective, and Hacks, not... whatever the Max originals were trying to be.

All we know is: the brand may be confused, but the memes are in a golden age.

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