John Oliver Slams the “Genius” Who Keeps Changing HBO Max’s Name, Admonishes Parent Company Exec for Anticipating His “Hot Take”
John Oliver didn’t disappoint his company overlords on Sunday evening by addressing the latest HBO Max title reversal — the newest in a sequence of adjustments for the streaming service.
Throughout his important section on Final Week Tonight, which was about President Trump’s typically antagonistic relationship with the press, Oliver referred the present administration’s determination to ban the Related Press from the Oval Workplace for refusing to consult with the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” a transfer Trump made quickly after taking workplace.
Justifying the AP’s determination, Oliver famous: “It has purchasers throughout the world, and many them nonetheless use the time period the Gulf of Mexico, so it’s not so simple as you’re making on the market, particularly as a result of it could actually take time for individuals to regulate to a silly title change.”
He then turned to the latest determination by Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO and HBO Max, the place Final Week Tonight airs. Displaying the varied logos/names onscreen, Oliver famous: “Generally, hypothetically, earlier than we will even get used to 1 dumb title [HBO Go], some genius comes alongside and solely makes it dumber [HBO Now], then someway it will get dumber nonetheless [HBO Max], after which towards all the odds, someway it turns into even worse [Max], earlier than inexplicably going again to the silly factor it was earlier than [HBO Max].”
In the meantime, Warner Bros. Discovery streaming advertising chief Shauna Spenley final week mentioned she was anxiously awaiting Oliver’s tackle the streamer’s title change. Oliver notoriously isn’t afraid to go after no matter company owns his house community (from Time Warner to AT&T to Warner Bros. Discovery) on his present.
“We simply can’t wait for his sizzling tackle this complete rebrand,” Spenley instructed advertisers throughout the firm’s upfront presentation to advertisers final week. “We expect it’s going to be fairly sizzling.”
Oliver famous her feedback, saying: “By the way, solely this week, my mum or dad firm apparently mentioned they can not wait for my sizzling tackle this complete rebrand — believing that no matter I say about this transformation was going to be fairly sizzling, so please look me in the eyes after I say this: Fuck you, don’t inform me what to do. I’m not gonna do it if you’d like it until, wait, maintain on, possibly you thought baiting me like that will be a great way to cease me from doing it, however on the different hand, how can an organization be that sensible after they’re the similar those who got here up with so many silly fucking names?”
The present additionally featured transient graphic at the finish of the opening credit with the varied logos the streamer has used with the caption “Mutatis Mutandis.”
Additionally throughout Sunday’s present, his “And Now This” section featured a humorous montage of assorted native information shops’ “fairly sizzling takes on HBO’s newest rebranding.”