HBO Max Is Now Max, Something Fans Can't Get Used To

By Michael Hein

On Tuesday, May 23 HBO Max officially became "Max," and fans are mourning on social media. The name change itself has been mocked by commenters for weeks, but the actual changes involved in the rebrand have some subscribers upset. Here's a look at the conversation around the new Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service Max.

WarnerMedia got into the streaming game in the spring of 2020 with HBO Max, but from the beginning there were reports that some executives did not like the idea of using "HBO" in the name. The service included material from many other notable Warner Bros. brands including Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, DC Entertainment and more. Still, HBO Max was very popular with fans of all kinds, so it struck many as odd when the company announced a name change earlier this year. According to WBD, the intent was to emphasize that they carry more than the prestige TV fans have come to expect from HBO, which many commenters take to mean the unscripted content from Discovery.

The Max name change was scheduled last month but did not become official until Tuesday. Starting at midnight users saw the new logo and color scheme on their interfaces, and on some devices they needed to download an entirely new app. Thankfully, subscribers did not need to take any action to keep their accounts other than to sign in. Still, the change left some users disgruntled from the start.

Max is available now with the same pricing tiers as its predecessor, and carrying much of the same content. Here's a look at what fans have to say about that change.

Redundant

Some of the first ads for Max featured the tagline "The one to watch for HBO," and commenters had a good laugh at all these added syllables. Some mocked the executives who made massive salaries to oversee this change.

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Color Scheme

Looking at the interfaces for the first time, some fans complained that Max's new blue color scheme makes it harder to differentiate from other streamers at a glance. Apps such as Amazon's Prime Video and Paramount+ are already using blue, to name a few, while HBO Max's purple was unique.

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Trend

Many fans joked that this was the start of a trend among streamers, with a popular idea being to rename Netflix "Flix."

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Grieving

Some fans entertained each other with melodramatic posts about this change, predicting that all their favorite parts of HBO Max would be stripped away. The streamer was particularly popular among movie buffs for its deep catalog.

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Download

For those who were baffled by this change every step of the way, the fact that the app did not update automatically was the final cherry on top. Some questioned whether they even would get signed into Max right away.

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Fans

Of course, some users voiced their support for the new app, saying they were grateful to have their existing services merged together.

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Other Streamers

Finally, some fans were watching to see if other streamers would crack any more jokes about this change on social media. Many suspected that Netflix's April 12 tweet about the character Max from Stranger Things was a subtle jab.

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