Earlier this week, the hashtag #DontStreamOnMax exploded on X following an annual stockholder meeting for Max’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. Though it was largely a wake-up call for the streaming service to stop chopping down successful shows, it spiralled into a bigger controversy over how the platform treats various other shows, as well as how it deals with programmes that feature LGBTQ+ stories.
The tag was created by a fan collective known as Adopt Our Crew, and although it originated on X on 3rd June, it’s slowly reaching global virality, jumping across to other social media platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr. Since its initial tweet, there have been more than 22,000 posts on X alone with the aforementioned tag.
The name Adopt Our Crew was inspired by “Our Flag Means Death,” a pirate-themed romantic comedy series. Since its premiere in 2022, the show has garnered positive reviews and a devoted following, leading to Max designating it as a “flagship original.” However, despite its overwhelmingly positive reviews, its showrunner announced in January that it would not return for a third season. This prompted the group to join forces and ask to keep the fandom strong despite the series officially dying off.
In a dialogue between the group and Yahoo Entertainment, they mentioned that their mission now goes beyond the show. The group is “dedicated to elevating queer stories,” and the #DontStreamOnMax initiative is the “result of months of frustration at seeing so many shows and movies cancelled or shelved without sufficient explanation.”
“If Our Flag Means Death can’t succeed, what can? We aren’t the only consumers who have been burned,” members of Adopt Our Crew further added. “Seeing complicated, flawed, beautiful, queer stories like those depicted on Our Flag Means Death changes lives and creates community.”
Though the campaign began with the fans clamouring for any other studio to pick up the hit series, it evolved to represent something much larger. According to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), 36% of all LGBTQ+ characters on television shows won’t be returning – 17 of those characters were cancelled on Max’s streaming platform, and eight of them were on Our Flag Means Death.
Posts utilising the hashtag highlight the value of diversity and representation, as well as the streaming service’s apparent inability to give priority to new and original content. However, it wasn’t just Max that received the brunt of the criticism, as other platforms were called out for cancelling and removing original programming, for one reason or another.
Adopt Our Crew stated in a press release that their mission is to make “stockholders, subscribers, consumers and the general public aware of how the recent actions of [Warner Brothers Discovery] and Max are alienating audiences, resulting in subscriber and profit losses.”
Representatives from Max have not commented or responded to other media outlets in regards to this mass boycott for now.
