Warner Bros. reverses course and plans to rename streaming service back to HBO Max

In 2020, the service debuted as HBO Max. Things were going fine as it vied to compete with the Netflix's and the Prime Video's of the world. Then, in 2023, Warner Bros. decided to rebrand it as simply Max.

This was a silly, pointless bit of nomenclature change. Many, ourselves included, just kept calling it HBO Max. This was a better name, but also the whole hook of the service was that it was tied to HBO. That was what the brand was. Max meant nothing to anybody.

On the one hand, does it look bad, and fuel schadenfreude on the ol' internet, that in the span of a couple years Warner Bros. said, "Nevermind!" and went back to HBO Max? Sure. On the other hand, the bigwigs read the room, took the L, and went back to the better name. They could have doubled down or held firm, but instead they just went ahead and returned to the HBO Max moniker. Ultimately, we become enured to brand entities and their names cease to have a meaning beyond designation anyway. We mean, Netflix is kind of a dumb name when you think about it. Does anybody ever stop to think about names like Bravo or Nickelodeon? 

There is some murmuring that the return of the HBO Max name is another sign that Warner Bros. Discovery will cease to be and Warner Bros. and Discovery will split. We shall see. For now, let's just enjoy not having to abide the name "Max" any longer.

(h/t The Hollywood Reporter)