Max is changing its name back to HBO Max after two years of bad branding

It really feels like we're in the Cassandra Timeline, wherein we know the consequences that will follow a certain action, yet the world doesn't listen and drags us all along to learn everything the hard way instead. Two years ago, as Warner Bros. and Discovery were solidifying their merger under the inauspicious tutelage of David Zaslav, they decided to take the HBO out of HBO Max. The idea was to centralize all the HBO, Discovery, and WB content into one app to rule them all. Does that theory make sense? Sure. Was it still one of the most predictably bone-headed marketing decisions? . . .