Will The AI Super Bowl Commercial Era Be Like That Of The 2000s .com bust?
This year’s Super Bowl LX was saturated with AI commercials, from major labs like OpenAI and Anthropic to ambitious startups and integrated tech giants. The sheer volume and investment in these ads have many observers recalling another era of frenzied Super Bowl advertising: the infamous .com bubble of the late 90s and early 2000s.
During the dot-com boom, dozens of internet companies—many with little more than a catchy name and a promising idea—splashed millions on Super Bowl spots, hoping to capture mindshare and investor dollars. While a few, like E*TRADE and Pets.com, are still remembered for their memorable (or infamously bad) ads, countless others vanished shortly after the big game, leaving behind only their expensive commercials as artifacts of a bygone era.
Blast from the Past: Dot-Com Super Bowl Ads from Companies From The .Com Era
Pets.com (2000): "If My Voice Could Sell"
The Vibe: An adorable sock puppet dog sings Peter Frampton's "Show Me the Way" while wandering through a suburban neighborhood, highlighting the convenience of online pet supply delivery. The company burned through $300 million and liquidated just nine months after this ad aired.
Watch here: Pets.com Super Bowl Ad 2000
Computer.com (2000): “It’s Computer Stuff”
The Vibe: Basically a boomer focused computer commercial
Watch here: Computer.com Super Bowl Commercial
E*Trade: “Monkeying Around”
The Vibe: Basically a monkey dancing around with two people. With a great CTA at the end “We just wasted $2M dollars, what are you doing with your money?”
Watch here: E*Trade Monkey 2000 Super Bowl Commercial
EDS.com “Hearding Cats”
The Vibe: The 2000 EDS "Cat Herders" Super Bowl commercial, aired during Super Bowl XXXIV, is a legendary ad featuring gruff cowboys herding thousands of cats across a plain to symbolize managing the complex, chaotic, and "wild" world of information technology and e-business. Created by agency Fallon, it is widely considered one of the best Super Bowl ads of all time.
Watch here: "Cat Herders” 2000 Super Bowl Commercial
Webvan (2000): "Grocery Delivery"
The Vibe: Two guys hiking out in the woods and they stop at a road. A truck pulls up and delivers toilet paper so a guy can use the bathroom. Basically was Doordash / Instacart to some degree before they existed.
Watch here: Webvan Super Bowl Ad 2000
Here Are The Ads From 2026 That Used Generative AI
The creative industry is coming around to using AI for effects and CGI. It can’t replace good ideas. As the usage of these tools increases consumers will come to expect it on things like visual effects or outlandish things. Using a CGI fake person etc. is an entirely different conversation but here are a list of the commercials airing on Sunday that used Generative AI.
Marketers and AI LOL
Svedka Vodka: Billed as the "first AI-led Super Bowl ad," Svedka’s commercial ("Shake Your Bots Off") was created predominantly using AI-generated video and features its robot mascots, Fembot and Brobot, in an AI-generated club setting.
Watch here: Svedka Super Bowl 2026 Teaser
Wix: Wix is showcasing its "Wix Harmony" platform, which uses AI to allow users to create websites by "thinking out loud" (describing ideas via voice).
Watch here: Wix Harmony: The New Way to Create
Base44: An AI-powered app-building tool, Base44 is also airing a spot during the broadcast.
Watch here: Base44: It's App to You - Big Game Ad
Uber: Uber’s campaign includes an interactive AI element where users can use the app to generate and customize their own versions of the Super Bowl ad starring Bradley Cooper and Matthew McConaughey.
Watch here: Uber Eats: Hungry for the Truth (Full Spot)
Gen AI Specific Company Super Bowl Ad Spots
Anthropic (Claude): Anthropic is making its Super Bowl debut with a high-profile "attack ad" campaign targeting OpenAI. The commercials (including a 30-second in-game and 60-second pre-game spot) feature the tagline "Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude." The ads mock the idea of AI assistants interrupting personal conversations to sell products (e.g., a "bot therapist" pivoting to sell dating site subscriptions).
OpenAI (ChatGPT): Returning for the second consecutive year, OpenAI has a 60-second spot. While their 2025 ad was a minimalist animation about "The Intelligence Age," the 2026 spot is reported to be more "relatable," focusing on everyday utility to build mainstream trust in ChatGPT.
Genspark.ai apparently has a Super Bowl Spot Now As Well
Did You Know? Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest U.S. food consumption day, with viewers eating an estimated 2,400 calories during the game. Key consumption for 2026 includes roughly 1.48 billion chicken wings, 30 million pounds of snacks (including 14,500 tons of chips), and 8 million pounds of guacamole. Over 12 million pizzas and 325 million gallons of beer are also consumed.
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