What Was The Song From The Miles Teller Bud Light Super Bowl Ad?

Last night’s run of Super Bowl ads ranged from pretty bad to not terrible, but there were a few notable standouts that got people’s attention. Some did so in a not-so-fun way that had viewers raging at their televisions, while others were lovey-dovey or played well off their stars’ celebrity.

One that fans couldn’t stop talking about, though, featured Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh dancing to hold music in their living room while sharing Bud Lights. While the premise was simple and cute enough, the part that captivated Super Bowl viewers was the hold music itself. We’ve all heard it at some point; the synthesizer-washed easy listening-style composition is one of the more recognizable and widely-used examples of the genre.

But, of course, viewers want to know more. Why is that song everywhere? What’s it called? Who made it? And how was Miles Teller hitting those moves?

While we can’t really explain that last bit, the song, “Opus 1” by Tim Carleton and Darrick Deel, has already been pretty thoroughly investigated by the internet. The two composers were 16-year-old computer nerds obsessed with Yanni when they made the song on a four-track recorder back in 1989, and given to Cisco Systems when Carleton went to work for the then-startup in the ’90s.

As he designed the company’s phone systems, he offered the song to the design team, and it eventually ended up in the final product, which runs phones for hundreds of companies.

Unfortunately for Carleton, he didn’t copyright the tune or get his former employers to sign a licensing agreement, so he doesn’t get any royalties from it. But then again, neither does the TikTok creator who came up with the familiar concept years ago:

Sigh. I guess this is a useful reminder: If it’s even a little bit cool, the odds are very high a Black person did it first and didn’t get credit for their idea.