Television

HBO Is Giving Away Huge Cardboard Boxes To Help College Students Regain Some Privacy

HBO Box
By Ben Pearson/

HBO, often associated with the best of the best when it comes to television, cares about the viewing experience – specifically, the viewing experience for college students who may be sharing a dorm room with roommates who don't mind their own business. The network has designed a new product called The HBO Box to help combat this apparently rampant problem, and as you can see in this slickly-produced video, it's basically a viewing enclosure that you can slide into so you can watch HBO content in peace. And that's absolutely the only thing you can do with it.

OK, so before we go any further, we should address the obvious: yes, it definitely looks like HBO has designed a jerk-off chamber here. Look at that header image. It's unmistakable. But at least HBO is self-aware. They know that's what we're all thinking. That's why they included this line in the voiceover: "We're so excited to see what you do – or don't – in an HBO Box." The whole video is incredibly tongue-in-cheek, taking extra care to point out things like "dual leg chambers" and the fact that the box has "many angles" and a "360° hole." (Let's just move past the implication of the hole in the side of this box, shall we?)

Some of its claims are clearly false, like the fact that you'll be "impervious to the outside world" or that the box is "noise cancelling" – there are several air holes drilled into the sides of it, so don't make the mistake of thinking you're in a complete cone of silence if you win one of these things.

The Verge points out that HBO is giving these away for a limited time. Just follow the instructions in this tweet to enter, as long as you're over the age of 18, have a .edu email address, and live in an area served by either FedEx or DoorDash.

I find this whole thing very strange, but it appears to be real, so enter away if you meet the criteria. That said, I did appreciate the tagline at the very end of the video: "HBO Box: 'Box' is literally our middle name." That's a good joke. Best of luck trying to win your own jerk-off chamber viewing enclosure!

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