Joy scrolling. That’s what we were about in 2021. Because people weren’t just watching our shows and movies over this past year – they were watching our feed as well. They came for our award-winning series and films, but stayed for our dopamine hits of humor. And with the likes of Mare, Issa, Selena, and the Roys, the job was easy – joyful, if you will.

We adorned our timelines with custom Game of Thrones avatars, rabbit-hole Matrix moments, and ways for fans to “bada binge” their way straight through the fall season. We did it for the laughs – theirs and ours – during a time when we all needed them.

FRIENDS: THE REUNION

In 2021, HBO Max gave Friends fans around the world something they’d been waiting over 15 years to see – a full-on, star-studded Friends reunion special. For the first time since the show ended in 2004, the main cast (and many other familiar faces) came together in celebration of the series that changed their lives – and ours – forever. Classic sets were revisited, fan-favorite scripts were reread, and old flames were rekindled. In the end, they really were there for us.

The Announcement

The Lead-Up

The Reunion

The Reunion on HBO Max YouTube

HARRY POTTER: 20TH ANNIVERSARY

If there’s one thing we love, it’s a celebration, and 2021 offered a great opportunity for one with the 20th anniversary of the Harry Potter film franchise. We commemorated the magical movie milestone with the perfect party favor – film watchlists specially curated for each Hogwarts house. So whether you were a daring Gryffindor or a clever Slytherin, we had you covered.

And like any good host, we saved the very best for last. As the clock counted down the final seconds of the year, we ended 2021 on the highest note – the release of the long-awaited cast reunion special, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts. The trailer spread through social media like dragonfire, garnering over 50MM views across all platforms.

SAME-DAY THEATRICAL RELEASES

In the interest of making things a lot more safe and a little more convenient, HBO Max had a special surprise for subscribers this year: a full slate of film premieres released on the streaming platform the very same day they hit theaters. They made us laugh, they made us cry, and they inspired some great memes – all from the comfort of our couches.

Judas and the Black Messiah

Godzilla vs. Kong

Mortal Kombat

Space Jam: A New Legacy

The Suicide Squad

Dune

King Richard

The Matrix Resurrections

#BADABINGE

What’s the perfect pairing for The Many Saints of Newark? A Sopranos binge, of course. In the six weeks leading up to the film’s premiere, we encouraged fans to re-watch all six seasons of The Sopranos with weekly reminders, checklists, and trivia games to test their knowledge post-binge. Fans were even able to screenshot and share their progress to win bragging rights upon completion. 

Throughout the length of the campaign, HBO Max streams of The Sopranos increased by more than 200% when compared to the average monthly views of 2021 leading up to the film premiere. As for the film itself, The Many Saints of Newark debuted to the staggering tune of 1MM streamers in the first weekend alone. Not bad for some wiseguys.

MATRIX DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Nearly two decades after the last installment in the franchise, HBO Max invited fans to re-enter the Matrix in 2021, and the response was overwhelming. In the lead-up to the release of The Matrix Resurrections, we engaged fans with an interactive scavenger hunt through Instagram.

The Launch Post

We kicked things off by dropping an ambiguous post to see how far down the rabbit hole fans were willing to go – a post that just happened to contain a profile tag that would lead them on a hunt for an exclusive sneak peek from the new film.

Down the Rabbit Hole

After following the tag to a new profile, fans were invited to make a choice, just like Neo had to make – they could follow the blue pill’s profile tag and end the game in ignorant Matrix-esque bliss, or they could follow the red pill’s profile tag and continue the hunt.

The Hunt

After choosing the red pill, fans were faced with yet another choice at each turn – only one of which would let them continue along their way.

The Wrong Answer

Any time that fans made the wrong choice… Well, let’s just say things didn’t end so well.

The Reward

A series of correct decisions, however, led to the ultimate pay-off – an exclusive sneak peek at The Matrix Resurrections.

GAME OF AVATARS

Who hasn’t found themselves watching Game of Thrones and wondered what they may look like seated upon the Iron Throne? There’s nothing we love more than making dreams a reality, so we decided to give our fans their own shot at ruling Westeros – without ever leaving home.

In celebration of the show’s Iron Anniversary, we offered custom-illustrated Game of Thrones avatars to anybody who wanted one. All we required was a selfie, and our talented artists took it from there. With well over 1MM total impressions, it’s safe to say that fans were pleased.

The Prompt

A Few Avatars

TWITTER

On Twitter, we got people to slow their scroll by inspiring laughs and sparking happiness at every possible opportunity, even if it meant having to make a pun or two (or three or four).

INSTAGRAM

There’s no platform more visually driven than Instagram, and we continued to push ourselves in pioneering new and interesting ways to use it. That, and we made memes using world-class A-list talent. You know what they say – if you’ve got it, flaunt it. And we do, so we did.

INSTAGRAM STORIES

Whether it was an interactive game, a thought-provoking poll, or a hilarious clip from one of our award-winning original series, we crafted our Instagram Stories to offer a cheerful array of distractions.

TIKTOK

As the latest frontier in the social media landscape, TikTok was a particularly exciting medium in 2021. We put a special focus on finding fresh ways to engage, with everything from original design pieces to short-form video clips, content that speaks for itself.

YOUTUBE

This year we reached 1MM subscribers on YouTube, an accomplishment only made possible by the 783,500 fans who joined our subscriber base. Whether we were sharing clips from fan-favorite classics like Friends and The Big Bang Theory or taking a deeper dive into HBO Max Originals like Selena + Chef and Peacemaker, our fans were with us every step of the way, allowing us to garner over 1.3 billion views across the channel.

Clips

Compilations