The Dot-Com Super Bowl Graveyard: Startups That Spent Millions and Vanished Overnight

At the height of the dot-com bubble, internet startups believed a Super Bowl commercial was the ultimate shortcut to legitimacy. Instead, it became a graveyard.
In this mega episode of The Strange History Podcast, host Amy investigates the rise and spectacular collapse of dot-com companies that spent millions on Super Bowl advertising—only to disappear months later. From Pets.com and eToys to Webvan, Kozmo.com, and Boo.com, this episode explores how hype replaced sustainability, how visibility accelerated failure, and why the Super Bowl became the most expensive mistake in tech history.
We dig deep into internal business models, venture capital pressure, logistics failures, timing disasters, and executive hubris—revealing why these companies didn’t just fail, but failed publicly and permanently. This is not a story about bad ideas. It’s a story about being loud before being ready.
If you love strange business history, dot-com bubble stories, tech failures, or forgotten Super Bowl controversies, this episode is for you.


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