The dot-com Super Bowl — 5 years later

It was just five years ago, although it seems like a different age entirely. It was a time of singing-sock-puppets, 21-year-old chief executives, gravity-defiant stock prices, revolutionary technologies and half-baked business plans.

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

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FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

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And in this atmosphere, during the final, halcyon days of the Internet boom, the St. Louis Rams played the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV, a moment that will be forever remembered as the dot-com bubble's Waterloo.

Football fans got a heavy dose of the fever that day: More than a dozen Internet companies spent an average of $2.2 million for 30-second spots, amounting to more than $40 million dollars of stockholder cash and not-so-hard-won venture capital.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

These startups hoped that Super Bowl exposure would sear their web address into the minds of consumers. But most viewers were left with only vague memories of chimpanzees dancing to "La Cucaracha" to promote whatchamacalit.com
... while the businesses themselves were left with empty wallets.

Today, most of these Internet pioneers are dead and gone, forgotten as the score of the game (St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16). But in this feature we take a stroll down memory-lane, looking at some of the most memorable advertisers from the dot-com bowl, and let you decide whether they were ahead of their time or just out of their minds.