Gert-Jan Kroese<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@verge" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>verge</span></a></span> the <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/adagency" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>adagency</span></a> handling these <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/rebranding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>rebranding</span></a> strategies must be smiling all the way to the <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/bank" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>bank</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/hbo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>hbo</span></a> | “In case you’ve lost track, <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/hbomax" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>hbomax</span></a> launched in 2020 in an attempt to consolidate HBO’s messy streaming options and give <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/warnerbros" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>warnerbros</span></a> a single platform to rival <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/netflix" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>netflix</span></a> and <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/disneyplus" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>disneyplus</span></a>. It became Max in 2023, a rebrand that was met with immediate derision and has since been seen as an all-time screw-up on par with New Coke.”</p>