Some HBO Max subscribers received a strange email Thursday night with the subject line “Integration Test Email # 1.” The body of the email said only, “This template is used by integration tests only.” There were no attachments or images included.
Given the proliferation of data breaches of late, it could have been a phishing scam.
Most recipients, however, seem to have quickly realized that the missive was a mistake. And then the jokes began.
Some on Twitter posited that Integration Test Email #1 was a new HBO Max show.
INBOX: Integration Test Email #1, an intriguing new drama from HBO Max pic.twitter.com/EdRxZegQ3a
— David Gardner (@byDavidGardner) June 18, 2021
HBO Max keeps hitting with these exciting shows! I can’t wait to watch Integration Test Email !!!! pic.twitter.com/APy0NqXc2P
— Lawrence Krubner (@krubner) June 18, 2021
Others imagined HBO Max’s streaming competitors quickly calling all-hands meetings to brainstorm how they could jump on the Integration Test Email #1 bandwagon.
Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, Paramount+ all having the same hastily called all-hands meeting right now WHAT IS OUR “INTEGRATION TEST EMAIL?”
— Mike Royce (@MikeRoyce) June 18, 2021
Twitter pro and Director James Gunn hoped it was “the first step in extremely clever viral marketing” plan for his upcoming HBO Max project, Peacemaker.
Hoping the Integration Test Email #1 I just got from @hbomax is somehow the first step in extremely clever viral marketing for #Peacemaker. 🕊️🔫☮️
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) June 18, 2021
Still others sought to claim credit for the brilliant marketing ploy.
I hope everyone watches my new show called Integration Test Email #1 coming to HBO Max soon! We’re trying something new with the marketing….
— Cristela Alonzo (@cristela9) June 18, 2021
Alas, it was simply a mistake according to the official HBO Max Help Twitter feed. In fact it was, of course, an intern who goofed and sent the missive to many subscribers.
“We apologize for the inconvenience,” read the HBO Max Help post, “and as the jokes pile in, yes, it was the intern. No, really. And we’re helping them through it.”
We mistakenly sent out an empty test email to a portion of our HBO Max mailing list this evening. We apologize for the inconvenience, and as the jokes pile in, yes, it was the intern. No, really. And we’re helping them through it. ❤️
— HBOMaxHelp (@HBOMaxHelp) June 18, 2021
So what is an integration test email?
According to educational site Guru99, it is “defined as a type of software testing carried out in an integrated hardware and software environment to verify the behavior of the complete system. It is testing conducted on a complete, integrated system to evaluate the system’s compliance with its specified requirement.”