Overview

• Warner Bros. Discovery announced at its May 14 upfront that its streaming service will return to the HBO Max brand, undoing the 2023 rebrand to Max.
• CEO David Zaslav cited HBO's strong association with high-quality programming as the primary reason for the reversal, aiming to drive future streaming growth.
• John Oliver mocked the sequence of name changes on 'Last Week Tonight,' calling the progression from HBO Go to Max and back to HBO Max 'increasingly dumb.'
• Branding experts described the original Max rebrand as a 'corporate walk of shame,' a sentiment echoed in public and media reactions.
• Shauna Spenley, WBD's streaming marketing chief, anticipated Oliver's critique, which he delivered with a mix of humor and sharp criticism of the company.