The buzzer comes from America's Got Talent, the long-running televised talent competition where judges press a large red button when they have seen enough of an act. Four buzzers end the performance, and the sound became shorthand for public rejection as clips from the show circulated online. Editors and meme makers lifted the short buzz for their own videos because it needs no explanation, and it remains popular as a quick, recognisable way to mark a fail, a bad audition or a joke that falls flat.