Home Box Office is a legend in American television, one of the industry's most famed and prestigious brands. So it was a mystery when its new owners renamed it "Max"—a name so generic and bland it could apply to almost anything. Two years on, they realized the error of their ways and quickly rolled out the reverted new (old) look
Max is changing its name back to HBO Max this summer, two years after deciding to drop the "HBO." Warner Bros Discovery says of the decision: "Returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect from the offering. It is also a testament to WBD's willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach – leaning heavily on consumer data and insights – to best position itself for success."
The announcement was a surprise to Variety, which spotted the the classic black-and-white HBO look reappearing on screens.
The idea had been to build an all-in-one monster brand for TV, movies, games, etc., modeled on how "Netflix" looms over popular culture. But it didn't work, so here we are, with what one executive describes reassuringly as a better "current consumer proposition."
