HBO has been mocked for making an add that uses a Nintendo Wii U controller. The premium cable television network, which broadcasts hugely popular shows such as Game of Thrones, Big Little Lies, and Westworld, used the image of the controller to promote its HBO NOW streaming service,
At the bottom of the HBO website, viewers of the popular broadcaster can see an ad banner for HBO NOW which shows some of the platforms that the streaming service is available on. As well as a smartphone, a tablet, and an Apple MacBook, the banner also has a television with a Wii U controller. The image is meant to show that HBO shows can be streamed on games consoles, but some gamers have been scratching their heads as the Wii U is not one of the consoles that HBO NOW is available on. The streaming service is only available on PS4 and Xbox One.
Gamers have been coming up with theories as to why HBO and its graphic design team decided to use an image of a Wii U Pro controller and not that of a PS4 or Xbox One controller. One funny suggestion is that the graphic designer is a big Wii U fan and wants its legacy to live on and be thought of as more than the console selling on eBay for outrageous prices. Another suggestion is that HBO just didn't want to stoke a console war and somehow anger PlayStation and Xbox fans by using branded PS4 and Xbox One controllers in the image.
The more likely reason, however, is that whoever made the design just didn't know better. With the Wii U barely selling more than 10 million units and becoming the worst-selling console that Nintendo has released, the designer may not have known that the image was for the discontinued console when they saw it in a Google Image search. Someone working at HBO should really know what platforms its shows can be streamed on, but this may have just been an accident.
Whatever the reason, it seems that HBO has seen its mistake or it just got fed up of being mocked by gamers saying that the broadcaster is stamping on the Wii U's grave. Just 12 hours after fans spotted the banner, it has now been updated with the PS4 controller. The Internet never forgets, but this may temporarily stop new memes being made.
Source: Nintendo Enthusiast