Website www.zombo.com Launched 1999 | Available in English Alexa rank 121,053(November 2016) Current status Online | |
Zombo.com is a single-serving site that was created in 1999 when Flash animation was a new technology. Originally a faculty and student joke from the George Washington University Center for Professional Development, the site parodies Flash introductory web pages that play while the rest of a site's content loads. Zombo took the concept to a humorous extreme, consisting of one long introductory page that leads to a message that says, "Sign Up For The NewZLetter", with the Z being red.
Contents
The website has remained unchanged since its public launch in 1999.
Content
Zombo.com consists of a "blank" page, a colorful title, and a Flash animation of seven colorful pulsating discs, making them appear as though they are rotating. The website also contains an audio clip, in which a man welcomes the visitor to "Zombocom", looping indefinitely, having more enthusiasm each time.
After some time, the option to sign up for a "newZletter" appears. This is a continuation of the joke as it is actually a short link to http://www.zombo.com/join1.htm, which tells the reader that this particular option is not available yet. This message is conveyed as a humorously written thank you in the same register form of "newZletter," stating "ThankZ for your patience."
The HTML markup of the website also contains the comment "Please Visit http://www.15footstick.com our other website ThankZ" which leads to an old parody website.
Transcript
Welcome ... to ZomboCom.
This ... is ... ZomboCom. Welcome. This is ZomboCom; welcome ... to ZomboCom. You can do anything at ZomboCom. Anything at all. The only limit is yourself. Welcome ... to ZomboCom.
Welcome ... to ZomboCom. This is ... ZomboCom. Welcome ... to ZomboCom! This is ZomboCom, welcome! Yes ... This ... is ZomboCom.
This is ZomboCom! And welcome to you, who have come to ZomboCom. Anything ... is possible ... at ZomboCom. You can do ... anything at ZomboCom. The infinite is possible at ZomboCom. The unattainable is unknown at ZomboCom. Welcome to ZomboCom. This ... is ZomboCom.
Welcome to ZomboCom. Welcome. This ... is ... ZomboCom. Welcome ... to ZomboCom! Welcome ... to ZomboCom.
Popularity
Video game producer Bill Roper and artist Dave Rowntree have each listed Zombo as their favorite website; Rowntree explains, "I think [zombo.com] paraphrases the net. Promises you the earth but delivers a bit of animation with a scratchy soundtrack!" Web animator Joel Veitch chose Zombo.com as the least useful website, since "it doesn't do anything except tell you how wonderful it is." Ian McClelland, currently Managing Director of Guardian Australia, but at the time Senior Producer for Cartoon Network, also cited Zombo.com as the least useful site in the same column two years previously "Utterly useless, absolutely brilliant". Mark Sullivan of PC World listed Zombo among the Internet's ten most useless websites, concluding, "Well, in fact, nothing happens at zombo.com." Samela Harris of The Advertiser calls Zombo.com "the most welcoming website on the Internet", and Daryl Lim of Digital Life calls Zombo.com "the ultimate time-waster". A listing in The Australian writes, "Zombo.com has just one joke, but it's a good one."
On 4 September 2013, Matthew Inman, creator of The Oatmeal webcomic, listed Zombo.com as his favorite website in an interview with Runner's World.
On 3 May 2016, Jesse Thorn made Zombo.com his outshot.
In the online MMO World of Warcraft added in a non-playable character named Zom Bocom.