The name Wylie Gustafson might not peal any bells for you , but trust me , you do it him .
Back in the mid ‘ 90s , Gustafson was just your average , routine yodeler making a living in Los Angeles . He sang with his dance orchestra , Wylie and the Wild West , and occasionally did some commercials to make a piffling cash on the side . If you were a frequent boob tube watcher in the former - to - mid ‘ 90s , you might think of his distinctive voice in ads for Taco Bell , Miller Lite and even Porsche . Then , in 1996 , he got a call from an ad agency looking for a guy cable with a decent yodel . Gustafson went in and immortalise about 10 different yodel snipping in five minute of arc or so and was paid pretty handsomely for his 300 seconds - $ 590 ( that ’s nearly $ 7,100 an time of day , if you ’re keeping track ) . After being told the TV office would air just once regionally , he blithely took his check and go on his way .
you’re able to imagine his shock when he tune up into the Super Bowl a twain of years later and heard himself croon on one of the most expensive advertising spots in macrocosm . Turns out Yahoo ! , the small company that had commissioned the melodic phrase , ended up doing jolly well for themselves . Gustafson reach the folks there to explain that their agreement had been for a individual - use regional ad , and Yahoo ! promptly compensated him with another $ 590 . It was n’t exactly what Gustafson had in idea . After unsuccessfully trying to get to them again through a serial publication of phone calls and letters , he sued them for $ 5 million in residuary royalty in 2002 . Yahoo ! came to an agreement with him a mere five days later . Though the summation was unrevealed , it ’s pretty safe to assume the amount was emphatically an improvement on $ 590 . Gustafson , who also have a cattle ranch in Washington , go out and bought a new buck with part of his earnings . He named it Yahoo . '' That ’s the sound I made when the colonization come in , ” he explained .
Here ’s the warble rancher in activity :
