Some HBO Max mailing list subscribers got some unexpected additional content on Thursday evening when an email with the subject line "Integration Test Email #1" arrived in their inboxes. While it wasn't immediately clear what the email was for, some mused that it might have been cryptic marketing for a new show. As it turned out, the reason for the email was much more mundane and has triggered an outpouring of for interns everywhere.
HBO Max benefits from not only offering HBO's own highly regarded content for viewing, but the wealth of content from HBO's parent company WarnerMedia too, such as from the Cartoon Network, DC, and TNT. This range of content is one of the reasons the streaming platform has been so widely praised since it launched last year and, as a result, it has built up a base of nearly 50 million people already. Thursday's correspondence, though, is one piece of content subscribers to the service won't have been anticipating.
'Integration Test Email #1 landed in people's inboxes containing only the line: "This template is used by integration tests only." With mailing list subscribers taking to Twitter to express their confusion and amusement, HBO Max eventually revealed that the email had, unsurprisingly, been sent by mistake. What's more, it transpired that the incident had lived up to the age-old trope of the mistake having been made by an intern. HBO Max assured people that it was "helping them through it."
Reaction To HBO Max Integration Test Email #1
Needless to say, Twitter was ablaze with people reacting to the rogue email, some offering their sympathy and others simply reveling in the entertainment of it all. Microsoft Outlook's Twitter encapsulated what many others will have thought, saying: "Dear Intern, we've all hit the send button before we should've. It happens to the best of us." Former White House intern Monica Lewinksy was similarly ive, writing: "Dear intern: it gets better."
On the lighter side of things, @byDavidGardner suggested Integration Test Email #1 was "an intriguing new drama from HBO Max," while @Mattvsfood opined: "I hope Integration Test Email gets renewed for a second season." Elsewhere, @petersterne applauded HBO Max for the email, saying: "Congrats to HBO Max on the successful integration test," while @mitchellh simply wanted to help out: "How do we notify the HBO person their integration test ed?"
Finally, an 'undo send' delay like on Twitter and Gmail can be.
Source: HBO Max/Twitter