Internet PR: Pets.com downfall is dot-com case study - With what some call one of the best brand campaigns in dot-com history, Pets.com's failure came as a surprise. Julia Hood discovers what went wrong

As Pets.com shut down last week, selling off everything from kitty litter to that famous Sock Puppet mascot, it shocked many observers in the PR world who had been confident that sites with the strongest profile would survive. Dot-com deaths may seem like an old story, but Pets.com was one of the first publicly traded companies to close. Others include MotherNature.com, which sold vitamins and herbal products, and Mortgage.com, an online lending site.