Pets.com
1998-2000
Pets.com expected massive success with their innovation to sell pet supplies online; the Internet bubble was booming and they had big-name investors like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The company also generated fantastic brand awareness with an expensive Super Bowl ad, centered around a lovable sock puppet.
Most people, however, were still reluctant to buy pet stuff online. In panic, Pets.com tried to attract customers by lowering prices and promising free shipping. But selling a heavy bag of dog food at a loss and then shipping it for free is clearly a bad business model.
Ironically, the sock puppet mascot remained a celebrity even after the company folded, and has become the ultimate symbol of what went wrong in the Internet 1.0 bubble era. When the puppet was asked in a TV interview if he had any advice for the investment community, he replied, “Don’t invest in dotcoms.”
Additional info:
Cnet.com - Pets.com latest high-profile dot-com disaster
Tedium - All Sock Puppets Go To Heaven
The ads that made the puppet famous!!