In 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery faced a problem: too many streaming brands, not enough clarity. HBO Max, Discovery+, Cartoon Network, CNN, DC Studios…the list went on. Their solution? A rebrand. They dropped “HBO” and tried to unite everything under one name: Max. On paper, it sounded simple. Broader, friendlier, and family-ready. And, to make it stick, they went big, paying $1.8 million for Max.com. The domain was clean, powerful, and unforgettable. What should have worked as a solid rebrand ended up flopping. “HBO” wasn’t the liability; it was the draw. For decades, it had stood for prestige and quality…the Sunday-night anticipation that kept people loyal. By stripping it away, Warner didn’t gain focus. They lost meaning. And “Max”? It was too vague and generic. Google it and you’re buried under a blur of Max the dog, Max Verstappen, Max from Stranger Things, and a dozen fitness influencers. Customers were confused and some even thought the brand was was actually Cinemax. By May 2025, just two years later, Warner quietly reversed course. No big announcement; just a soft return to the name people trusted all along: HBO Max. Max.com remains live, still redirecting, still a premium domain. But now, it’s a $1.8M reminder that even the best .com can’t save a weak brand strategy.

Was watching the football game when I saw an ad for adult diapers. I had some time to myself today and started playing around with a print ad (target audience likely still subscribes to magazines) for a similar product using a few different headlines/subheads. Whatcha think?

Unless you still get your daily dose of advertising via print, you’ve likely heard the commercial for the weight loss drug, Ozempic, that re-writes the lyrics to the 1974 song (It’s) Magic) by Pilot. Although the only change was using ‘Ozempic’ in place of ‘It’s magic,’ I’d argue that if people heard the tune without lyrics, a large number of people would label it as “the Ozempic Song.” My question to the seasoned advertisers of the group, what is your opinion on using existing popular music in ads and other media, versus using time and resources to create your own? I bring this up because although the jingle era of advertising is still slightly present on the FM dial, you don’t often hear the once iconic tunes of the Green Giant, or Folgers telling us about best part of waking up. Even recent ones like State Farm have been reduced to just five notes played at the open. But could the success of the Ozempic re-write old pop songs be replicated in a time where attention spans have never been shorter? Well, multiple sclerosis med, Briumvi is going to find out after launching their latest commercial that inserts their name into roller-rink favorite, Take On Me by A-ha! In my opinion, advertising is all about doing your own thing, replicating strategies others have found success in, and creating pieces that consumers won’t hate themselves for looking at. Distinguishing yourself doesn’t meant coming up with something never done before; it’s doing something that looks, sounds, and feels like no one could ever do it better! I’ve linked some more examples.