The sound comes from SpongeBob SquarePants, the Nickelodeon animated series that premiered in 1999 and stars SpongeBob, voiced by Tom Kenny. Short clips of his exaggerated reactions have circulated on soundboards and in meme edits for years because his voice is instantly recognisable even out of context. This auauauau wail became a reusable reaction clip on social video platforms, where creators layer it over fails, rejections and minor disappointments instead of recording their own crying sound.