Bajookieland

2022absurdist worldbuilding memedeclining

Bajookieland is a fictional country invented by Instagram and TikTok comedian Tony Zaret in April 2022, complete with a made-up language, a stolen flag, and rival neighbor states called Bajonkistan and Bajonkistan 2. The bit grew into a shared absurdist worldbuilding project across TikTok, Reddit and iFunny.

collaborative fiction memesabsurdist humor memesfictional country memesworldbuilding memes2022 memes

Overview

Bajookieland is a fictional country invented by Instagram and TikTok comedian Tony Zaret in April 20221. In the running gag, the nation sits in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and borders its arch-rivals Bajonkistan and Bajonkistan 25. Its inhabitants, called the Bajookanese, speak a made-up language built around "oo" and "u" sounds and eat a national dish known as "grum grum"6.

The country's flag shows orange, green and blue stripes with a red spiral in the center that resembles a sun5. Zaret did not design it himself. He borrowed the image from another imaginary micronation called the Peoples Republic of Atrophia, then invented an in-universe backstory tying it to conflict with Bajonkistani "extremists"2. Other creators piled on with more lore, turning Bajookieland into a shared absurdist sandbox rather than a single joke.

How It Spread

The joke escaped Zaret's own accounts almost immediately. On April 18th, 2022, Redditor uhkms04844 posted three fake maps to r/ImaginaryMaps that placed Bajookieland off the coast of Nova Scotia, named its capital Brongulus, and listed a population and area for it4. The post picked up over 580 upvotes within its first year. Zaret kept feeding the world with more clips, including a follow-up TikTok that hit roughly 33,600 plays and an Instagram cut that reached 11,000 likes2.

By late 2022, Bajookieland had migrated onto iFunny, where users invented their own regions and dishes. On October 5th, 2022, iFunny user @The_Judge_ shared a "New Bajookieland" meme placed beneath Texas and known for its "Phlamp," earning around 5,100 smiles5. Sometime in mid-2022, a dedicated Fandom wiki went up to catalog Bajookieland's growing canon of towns, foods and events6.

On January 23rd, 2023, Zaret posted a TikTok explaining that the Bajookieland flag was a color-inverted version of one used by Bajonkistani extremists, whom he blamed for the fictional "Bajonkistani Gaming Shortage of 2011"2. The video pulled roughly 185,800 plays. A week later, on January 30th, 2023, YouTuber Lord Miles shared two doctored Bajookieland maps on Twitter, joking he was "classified as a flight risk in bajookieland due to bajonkistan propodanda," and picking up about 1,100 likes7.

How to Use This Meme

Bajookieland works as an open fictional sandbox. Creators typically invent new towns, foods or rival nations for the country in the same "oo/u" naming style, then present them straight-faced as if Bajookieland were real4. Common conventions include drawing fake maps, faking news events, or roleplaying as a Bajookanese speaker using invented words like "bajooker" and "grum grum"6.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bajookieland

2022absurdist worldbuilding memedeclining

Bajookieland is a fictional country invented by Instagram and TikTok comedian Tony Zaret in April 2022, complete with a made-up language, a stolen flag, and rival neighbor states called Bajonkistan and Bajonkistan 2. The bit grew into a shared absurdist worldbuilding project across TikTok, Reddit and iFunny.

collaborative fiction memes absurdist humor memes fictional country memes worldbuilding memes 2022 memes

Overview

Bajookieland is a fictional country invented by Instagram and TikTok comedian Tony Zaret in April 20221. In the running gag, the nation sits in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and borders its arch-rivals Bajonkistan and Bajonkistan 25. Its inhabitants, called the Bajookanese, speak a made-up language built around "oo" and "u" sounds and eat a national dish known as "grum grum"6.

The country's flag shows orange, green and blue stripes with a red spiral in the center that resembles a sun5. Zaret did not design it himself. He borrowed the image from another imaginary micronation called the Peoples Republic of Atrophia, then invented an in-universe backstory tying it to conflict with Bajonkistani "extremists"2. Other creators piled on with more lore, turning Bajookieland into a shared absurdist sandbox rather than a single joke.

How It Spread

The joke escaped Zaret's own accounts almost immediately. On April 18th, 2022, Redditor uhkms04844 posted three fake maps to r/ImaginaryMaps that placed Bajookieland off the coast of Nova Scotia, named its capital Brongulus, and listed a population and area for it4. The post picked up over 580 upvotes within its first year. Zaret kept feeding the world with more clips, including a follow-up TikTok that hit roughly 33,600 plays and an Instagram cut that reached 11,000 likes2.

By late 2022, Bajookieland had migrated onto iFunny, where users invented their own regions and dishes. On October 5th, 2022, iFunny user @The_Judge_ shared a "New Bajookieland" meme placed beneath Texas and known for its "Phlamp," earning around 5,100 smiles5. Sometime in mid-2022, a dedicated Fandom wiki went up to catalog Bajookieland's growing canon of towns, foods and events6.

On January 23rd, 2023, Zaret posted a TikTok explaining that the Bajookieland flag was a color-inverted version of one used by Bajonkistani extremists, whom he blamed for the fictional "Bajonkistani Gaming Shortage of 2011"2. The video pulled roughly 185,800 plays. A week later, on January 30th, 2023, YouTuber Lord Miles shared two doctored Bajookieland maps on Twitter, joking he was "classified as a flight risk in bajookieland due to bajonkistan propodanda," and picking up about 1,100 likes7.

How to Use This Meme

Bajookieland works as an open fictional sandbox. Creators typically invent new towns, foods or rival nations for the country in the same "oo/u" naming style, then present them straight-faced as if Bajookieland were real4. Common conventions include drawing fake maps, faking news events, or roleplaying as a Bajookanese speaker using invented words like "bajooker" and "grum grum"6.

Frequently Asked Questions