“No one ever called it max anyways”: fans mock Max name change back to HBO Max

US streaming service Max has announced that it will be reverting back to its original name, HBO Max, from summer 2025. The pivot has led to a deluge of mockery from viewers online.

Created by Warner Bros Discovery, the owners of premium network HBO, the service launched as HBO Max in May 2020. Almost exactly three years later, the name was changed to Max, along with a logo redesign. The name change was controversial, and onlookers questioned why the company would remove the recognisable brand name synonymous with TV classics like The Sopranos or Game Of Thrones.

In a statement made on Wednesday (May 14), Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav confirmed the backtrack to the original name. “The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming,” he said. “Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead”.

CEO of HBO and Max Content Casey Bloys added: “We believe HBO Max far better represents our current consumer proposition. And it clearly states our implicit promise to deliver content that is recognised as unique and, to steal a line we always said at HBO, worth paying for”.

At the upfront presentation for the network on the same day, Bloys joked: “I know you’re all shocked, but the good news is I have a drawer full of stationery from the last time around”.

Users on X (formerly Twitter) have a more scathing view of the announcement. “This caps off probably the funniest series of inexplicable logo changes in corporate history” wrote one, while another added: “No one ever called it max anyways”.

Warner Bros. Discovery just re-branded it’s steaming service “Max” back to “HBO Max”.

This caps off probably the funniest series of inexplicable logo changes in corporate history. pic.twitter.com/9rbgLHQB21

— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) May 14, 2025

No one ever called it max anyways.

— Scruffy City TV (@scruffycitytv) May 15, 2025

Questioning the behind the scenes decisions behind the move, one person asked: “How much money did the consulting company make by suggesting they change it to Max and then back to HBO Max?”, with another joking: “They got the Xbox people in the naming department”.

How much money did the consulting company make by suggesting they change it to Max and then back to HBO Max? lol

— M. Brandon Lee | THIS IS TECH TODAY (@thisistechtoday) May 14, 2025

They got the Xbox people in the naming department.

— Strainbender (@Strainbender) May 15, 2025

Some saw the lighter side, commenting: “Hey, the thing absolutely everyone said was a terrible idea turned out to be a terrible idea”, while another sounded relieved: “Good. I can stop correcting myself”.

Hey, the thing absolutely everyone said was a terrible idea turned out to be a terrible idea

— Noah Alzayer (@NoahAlzayer) May 14, 2025

Good. I can stop correcting myself

— Michael McGuire (@MMcGuire82) May 14, 2025

Of course, HBO Max is far from the first company to rebrand, as one user pointed out: “Take note X, revert back to Twitter”.

They wanted a single word brand name like Netflix but failed. Take note X, revert back to Twitter

— Michael Lee (@Mikeleetc) May 15, 2025

The streaming service will officially become HBO Max this summer. Aside from the name change, they are currently riding high on the success of The Last Of Us season two, which critics have described as a “knockout”.

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