(upbeat music)
- AT&T turns the HBO brand into a bad discount ad.
And Budweiser drops a pandemic remix of a classic spot.
I'm Jeff Beer, and this is Fast Company's
"Brand Hit and Miss of the Week".
This week's miss goes to HBO Max,
The newest streaming service from AT&T
and Warner Media Entertainment.
It was back in October 2016 that AT&T announced
that it wanted to acquire Time Warner.
Finally closing the deal by June 2018.
A few months later, it announced
it was gonna create a new streaming service.
And that streaming service became HBO Max.
So depending on who you ask, and your proficiency
with rudimentary math, the company has had
somewhere between 18 and 40 months
to come up with a marketing plan here.
The result, it's not HBO marketing,
it's HBO Max, and it's terrible.
Here we have Warner Media trying to sell
one of the greatest dramatic television shows
of all time alongside two really popular sitcoms,
with a really, really bad pun.
Who is this for?
Last year, Warner Media entertainment chairman,
Bob Greenblatt, described Netflix to NBC like this,
"Netflix doesn't have a brand," he said.
"It's just a place you go to get anything.
It's like Encyclopedia Britannica.
What we're trying to do is preserve the quality and elegance
of what HBO has been doing for 40 years
and at the same time increase it's output
to a reasonable degree that doesn't affect
the quality, and elegance, and beauty."
Now look at that add again.
Beauty, elegance?
Not so much.
It's one thing to bundle all this content
onto one platform, but it's another entirely
to try and cram it all into one ad.
As confusing as that is for a strategy,
it doesn't help when the creative looks like
a bus stop ad for a discount mobile deal.
Of course, with its giant collection of movies,
shows, and all that HBO gold,
HBO Max is sure to be popular with viewers.
But as a brand, HBO wasn't just a master
at creating prestige TV, it was also
pretty damn good at marketing itself.
Remember the Bud Light "Game of Thrones" Super Bowl ad?
So far, HBO Max is a complete and utter dilution
of that brand image built over 40 years.
HBO Max's new tagline is, "Where HBO meets so much more."
But by the looks of the marketing so far
we could use a whole lot less.
Our hit pick this week is Budweiser.
Late last week Budweiser decided
to drop a remix of a classic ad.
- What's up? - What's up?
- People loved how it hilariously illustrated friendship.
And it probably sold a hell of a lot of beer.
Fast forward a couple decades,
and Bud's adapted this idea of friendship
to these unique times, and the importance
of checking in on your pals in isolation.
Whether they live alone,
or they're drowning in parental homeschool hell,
friends need a call from friends.
The new spot stars former NBA champs and teammates,
Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, in a video chat.
Along with WNBA legend, Candace Parker,
and Wade's wife, Gabrielle Union.
It's a good bit of lighthearted fun
that ends with a plug for
the Salvation Army's Emotional Care Hotline.
Up in Canada, the brand took the original 1999 spot
and adapted it with a more socially distant script.
- What's up?
- Nothing B, in quarantine.
- Advertising beer right now is a balancing act.
There's a fine line between promoting fun
and a Tuesday breakfast happy hour.
Here, Bud's done a fantastic job of cashing in
on some vintage cultural clout.
That's it for now.
Let us know your picks.
Thanks for watching.
And we'll see ya next time.
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