The sound comes from the marketing and score of Inception, Christopher Nolan's 2010 science fiction film with music by Hans Zimmer. Its trailers made a slowed, massive brass blast feel like a signature, and editors online quickly lifted that hit as a standalone joke. Because the note signals importance all by itself, it spread through trailer parodies, reaction edits and gaming videos during the early 2010s. It remains in use because the exaggeration still works instantly, even for viewers who have never seen the film.