Question 2: Who Wants to be an Internet Nerd!
What local website was the first ever Super Bowl Cyber Halftime Show?
- Land’s End
- Ray-o-Vac
- Oscar Mayer
ANSWER
Oscar Mayer: (CORRECT) Developed by Woodland Communications, a local advertising agency owed by Gary Walker and Cindy Hosely, the Oscar Mayer Cyber Cinema was first ever Super Bowl Cyber Halftime Show in January, 1997. The website was launched in 1995 and grew to be one of the most visited websites during the infancy of the World Wide Web offering games, videos and quizzes. Gary Walker negotiated the historic placement directly with www.superbowl.com and then proceeded to develop new content specially for the Super Bowl halftime show. Collaborating with other companies such as Sega and Nickelodeon, the Oscar Mayer Cyber Cinema was a huge success paving the way for many companies vying for the coveted time slot for future Super Bowls. SupraNet Communications was proud to provide back-up server support and bandwidth security to ensure functionality and avoid a possible crash or any embarrassing downtime for this first ever event.
Guild.com (WRONG). Guild.com was launched in 1998 by Madisonian, Toni Sikes as another way for artists to market their work. Guild had been around since 1985 as a “Book and Mortar” business sending out elegant catalogs of artwork for sale. In 2001, three years after transforming the business into an Internet concern, the business was sold to Ashford.com for 8.7 million shares of Ashford.com stock, or about $4.1 million. Although an early local Internet success story, it was not part of the www.superbowl.com Super Bowl XXXI halftime CyberShow.
Land’s End (WRONG). Land’s End launched their website in 1995. In the first month of operation, the site recorded just $160 in online sales, offering approximately 100 different items from the Lands’ End catalog. In 1998, sales from Web operations reached $18 million*. Whereas you would be comfortable watching the Super Bowl in a Land’s End outfit, they were not the local website that provided entertainment for the first cyber Super Bowl halftime show. * https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/landsendcom
Ray-o-Vac (WRONG). Ray-o-Vac’s website was designed in 1997 by Christopher Parr who also helped develop some of SupraNet’s earlier websites. Whereas, www.rayovac.com had games and focused on content from Michael Jordan, Babe Winkleman and Arnold Palmer, it was not established in time for the January 26, 1997 Super Bowl Game.
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