You’ve probably seen the video of seven-year-old David Devore all loopy off the good, dentist-issued painkillers while his dad films him in the car after his appointment.
David’s dad (also named David) spoke about the video’s viral success this year, disclosing that his family had made in “the low six figures” off the clip but stopping short of naming a sum. At that time, the clip had been viewed fifty-four million times and came in second for 2009 after Susan Boyle’s Britain’s Got Talent appearance. While the video might have, in another time, been shown once on America’s Funniest Home Videos and garnered the Devores a more literal five minutes of fame, YouTube and viral distribution has given the video a bit more staying power.
Gawker reposted a Business Week piece that goes over the ways that the Devore family has profited from their bit of YouTube fame. Now the elder David admits the venture has netted $150K total- $100K coming, roughly, from YouTube and the rest from merchandise sales- and interestingly, it’s said that he’s quit his real estate job in the wake of the video’s success. That may seem premature, but young David’s parents hope David’s dental trip will continue to amuse viewers. And traffic isn’t their only iron in the fire:
The DeVores revealed to us that they just signed a deal to make medical scrubs for dentists, and they’re also looking for deals with other dental products in the future. “We’d love it if Crest or Colgate would sponsor the website,” David tells us.
The family’s YouTube channel still gets 100-125K views a day, so it will be interesting to see how their web careers pan out for them. The venture isn’t without criticism, though- a Chicago Sun-Times writer said David should be turned over to CPS and Bill O’Reilly called Mr. Devore “a little exploitative” on his show. Do you think David’s dad can parlay one viral video into a lucrative career? Does quitting your day job after one YouTube hit seem a bit hasty?