I speak your name, Peacock. On Tuesday, HBO Max rebranded itself into Max. Why? We’re not sure. But the WGA’s Boo (and we do mean Boo), David Zaslav wanted a streaming platform that merged Game of Thrones and Succession with 90 Day Fiance and Deadliest Catch. Soooo, yeah. Welcome to Max.
The reception has been tepid at best. The name, quite frankly is not that creative and the colors are similar to just about every other streaming platform out there. To make matters worse, 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.” This according to Deadline.
While we may have experienced a collective eye roll at the new name, NBCUniversal’s rival platform Peacock was not going to sit still. Giving their beer to someone, the home of Bel-Air, Poker Face and Vanderpump Rules dramatically upped its talk value with a tweet that promised not promising not to jump on the trend by losing the first half of its own name.
“I know you’re all very disappointed, but I will *not* be dropping the first half of my name any time soon,” the official account tweeted.
Peacock got its name thanks to NBC’s iconic colorful logo that looks like the peafowl. But there have been many jokes, including by the Reel 360 News Team, that focused on the back half of the name. “Hey! Are you watching c–k again?” Others quickly turned into 12-year-old boys and added their own tweets:y
And then more came….
Even the Empire State Building had something to say about the rebrand:
Others questioned why they had to delete their existing app and download a new one to watch the same content:
One member of the WGA was infuriated and pointed out a major change in the credit information for content on Max.
REELated:
“The new HBO Max (MAX) has eliminated writer/director credits in their interface in favor of a vague ‘Creators.’ This is what Raging Bull currently looks like. It’s so f- -king over,” they wrote, referencing the ongoing writers strike fighting for pay increases :
Max launches with 35,000 hours of beloved programming for everyone in the household, including recent hits like the HBO Original series House of the Dragon and The White Lotus, and Max Originals Hacks and And Just Like That…
Iconic titles including every season of HBO’s The Sopranos and Sex and the City; bingeable favorites like Friends, South Park, The Big Bang Theory, Abbott Elementary, and Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty; lean-back entertainment like House Hunters, Property Brothers, Chopped, Deadliest Catch, and Fixer Upper; kids and family programming including Looney Tunes Cartoons and Sesame Street; classic films like Casablanca, and A Clockwork Orange; and DC favorites including Shazam! and The Dark Knight. Max will also be the exclusive U.S. streaming home of Studio Ghibli.
Rebrands happen. Does anyone remember new Coke? Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC. But keeping it real, we don’t really see much difference between HBO Max and Max. But Peacock’s response did elicit an audience reaction which is so hard to do these days. And that’s why it’s our REEL AD OF THE WEEK.
Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1
