'Actually HBO Max.' Beloved Streaming Service Rebrand Hits a Snag

HBO Max can’t catch a break. 

After months of public confusion, and plenty of memes, the streaming giant reversed course on its rebrand, shifting away from the simplified Max and back to its original, more iconic name. But now, the company is facing an unexpected hurdle: it can’t get its X (formerly Twitter) handle back.

Yes, really. HBO Max—now officially HBO Max again—wants to reclaim its original @hbomax X handle. 

The only problem? The platform won’t let it. The brand’s social media team announced the issue with a tongue-in-cheek post: “twitter won’t let me change my name back,” it read, lowercase and unbothered, like a tweet from a Gen Z intern in crisis mode.

twitter won't let me change my name back

— Actually HBO Max (@StreamOnMax) July 9, 2025

It’s a perfect storm of branding confusion, digital bureaucracy, and irony, especially considering Twitter’s own chaotic rebrand to X has been just as polarizing. 

Now, HBO Max finds itself in the kind of weird identity limbo that even its most experimental scripted series couldn’t have written better.

The streamer originally rebranded from HBO Max to Max in 2023 as part of a broader strategy to distance itself from the “prestige-only” reputation of the HBO name and appeal to a wider, more mainstream audience. That move was met with confusion from loyal subscribers and head-scratching from branding experts. 

By mid-2025, the company walked it back, acknowledging that dropping “HBO” might not have been the power move they hoped for.

But now, despite having corrected course, the company can’t even update its social media handle, leaving it stuck at @StreamOnMax while promoting a brand called HBO Max. Or, "Actually HBO Max" as the account currently reads.

It’s a small thing in theory, but in practice, it highlights the larger branding identity crisis the platform has faced over the past two years. The fact that its new (old) name can’t even be reflected across its official channels is just the latest chapter in what’s become one of the most publicly clumsy rebrands in recent memory.

Time will tell whether @hbomax ever makes its official return. For now, the irony writes itself.

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