HBO Max Users Confused Over 'Integration Test' Email: Here's What Happened

Daniel S. Levine

06/17/2021 11:40 pm EDT

HBO Max subscribers received a strange email on Thursday that left many wondering what was going on. It appears almost everyone was sent a test email by accident, giving everyone a peek behind the curtain. Thankfully, it appears that there is nothing nefarious behind the email and it was simply a mistake. HBO Max later tweeted that an intern mistakenly sent the email.

"We mistakenly sent out an empty test email to a portion of our HBO Max mailing list this evening," the streaming service's help team tweeted. "We apologize for the inconvenience, and as the jokes pile in, yes, it was the intern. No, really. And we're helping them through it."

The email had "Integration Test Email #1" in the subject. "This template is used by integration tests only," reads the body of the email. There were no images or attachments to the email. Considering there are so many reports of data breaches, that could be anyone's first thought, but it does not appear to be the issue. HBO Max's internal testing and customer email lists may have simply overlapped, so the internal email was sent to customers, Streaming Clarity suspects.

So what is an integration test? While many on Twitter users had jokes at the ready, it is "defined as a type of software testing carried out in an integrated hardware and software environment to verify the behavior of the complete system," according to Guru99. "It is testing conducted on a complete, integrated system to evaluate the system's compliance with its specified requirement," the site continues. Scroll on for a look at some of the jokes going around on Twitter.

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"Lol if it turns out the HBO Max email goof is a stunt for a new show called Integration Test Email then congrats to the marketing team," SocialProof Security CEO Rachel Tobac tweeted. "In all seriousness, though hugs to the soul whose having a tough night because of this goof — I promise you'll bounce back... we've all made mistakes, this will make quite the story one day."

Tobac later noted that some criminals might try to mimic the email and urged subscribers to be on the lookout for that. "Also from a social engineering perspective, there's prob some criminals out there trying phishing emails on the tails of this goof like 'HBO Max Integration Test #2: click here to unsubscribe from these emails,'" she wrote. "Heads up so your family & friends know to expect it + don't click."

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"There are two types of people. Those who got the HBO Max integration test email, and mooches," one person joked. "And the third type: people who somehow got the email without having an HBO Max account, like me," one person wrote.

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"I would rather send Integration Test Email #1 than accidentally alert Hawaii that there is an incoming ballistic missile," one person wrote, referring to the infamous Hawaii mistake.

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"The difference between HBO Go and HBO Max is that HBO Max includes every season Integration Test Email #1," one person joked. "I think everyone who got this is about to be saved from the simulation," another wrote.

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"Dear @hbomax @HBO I can't wait for your Integration Test Email #2... #1 was a success. Also, I love this template, simple and right to the point," one person wrote. "Can't wait to see what happens in Integration Test Email #2," another commented.

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"I just want to give Integration Test Email #1 employee at HBO Max a big hug. We've all had this day," another wrote. "Release the next episode of Integration Test Email you cowards," one Twitter user wrote.

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