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The viral video sensation David After Dentist recently passed its one year anniversary. Everything ages, and everything dies, you guys. Hakuna matata. But also, check out this follow-up from CNN:
It’s also been an unexpected bonanza for the boy’s Orlando, Florida-area family, who, despite some criticism that they exploited their child by posting his image online, has turned the one-minute, 59-second [ed. note: journalism!] home video into a lucrative sideline.
“We embraced it,” said the boy’s father, David DeVore, who shot the famous clip on a Flip camera from the car’s front seat. “We said we will make a family adventure out of this and see what happens. Nothing has happened that we felt uncomfortable doing.”
He would not say exactly how much the family has earned from the video but said it’s in the “low six figures.”
AY-AY-AY! LOW SIX FIGURES?! The American Dream, I suppose. Pulling yourself up by your child’s drugstraps. I don’t have any problem with this video, or think that it says anything about his parenting, or whatever, but I do love that he will share his child’s drug-fueled daymare with the entire world, no big deal, but when it comes to how much money he has made off said drug-fueled daymare, well, IS THERE NO PRIVACY OR DISCRETION IN THIS LIFE? Sure. Sure, dad.
The article does include an explanation of how, exactly, one is able to earn low six-figures off of a child tripping balllllz:
The video’s popularity may also help pay for David’s college tuition. The family earns money from licensing use of the video and gets a cut of revenue from the ads placed around the clip on YouTube. They’ve also started a Web site where they sell T-shirts and other “David After Dentist” merchandise.
“We have made a significant amount of money,” DeVore said at South by Southwest. “At first our goal was, ‘Maybe we can pay for a few video games or bikes,’ but as it grew, we thought, ‘Maybe we could pay for college.’ I think that’s attainable.”
What, no licensing deal with CafePress? You’re losing valuable mousepad income, sir! (Also, “at South by Southwest” = haha.) Admittedly, I am a little confused why David’s college tuition remains such a far off dream. Didn’t he just say that the video had earned a significant amount of money in the low six figures? Where does David want to go go school? In Scrooge McDuck’s vault? Then again, I’m not a father, so I probably just don’t even know what it’s like to have a dream for your child (that dream being to have your child home-colleged by Stephen Hawking aboard Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic SpaceshipTwo, apparently.)
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In the time it takes for me to post this comment, twelve monsters will have thought about writing “Is this real life?”, before deciding to make a less obvious joke.
This is no doubt subject to change, but as I write this, I have +12 on this comment. In my naivety, I truly believe that is one upvote from each person who thought about writing “Is this real life?”. Thank you, those guys!
Nonono – Thank YOU for saving me the trouble and embarrassment!
I’ve been doing it wrong! All this time I’ve been taping drugged children in my backseat and then just hiding the tapes in my secret closet compartment.
You said those were PEZ and that I was gonna be in a commercial!
In an attempt to prolong young David’s time in the spotlight, his father has procured an anesthesiology liscence and plans to turn the clip into a series. The first episode’s working title is ‘David go-karting after 400cc’s of Sodium Pentothal’.
In the next segment: purple drank.
David after Weezy.
David After Precioustini.
Well in that case I can’t wait to have children I can drag to the dentist, get them hopped up on laughing gas, then tape them with their shenans because that is probably more than I will make in a lot of years/ever.
My thoughts always immediately go to the possibility of copycat videos by parents who want a leg up on the tuition dealio for their children, and then I ask myself whether that’s a good thing or not. My brain immediately says it’s not a good thing, but then a little part goes “Well, mayb-” and then it cuts off. I’ve got weird censor sensors in my head, it would seem, that prevent me from thinking about those things.
And by ‘good thing’, it’s never a question of whether it’s a good idea or not to try and replicate the financial success- it’s not. The question I shut off on is whether the surreal, sometimes scary experience of tripping balls is healthy and/or necessary for a child.
On one hand, it’s bad. On the other? Its-
dfjBIUVajkkkkn ;df
Seriousgum: KajusX’s brain censors: allow those thoughts! Thoughts never hurt anyone; the problems start when you act on them. You don’t have to tell anyone about the thoughts, if they’re so terrible, and having them doesn’t make you a terrible person. Allow yourself to consider anything, that’s all right.
No worries, meaverly.
I do allow those thoughts.
It’s more like buzzers go off due to the taboo-ness of the concept of kids doing recreational drugs.
Adults should have the right tho.
Sorry to get all philosophicalgum on you!
When I got my wisdom teeth out I yell mumbled loudly and split blood everywhere, then fell asleep. That’s cute right? Should have taped that shit.
So wait a minute: the father of David at the dentist is a hero, but the father of the balloon boy is a villain? Way to walk the moral tightrope of morality and ethics, America.
The father of David after dentist had a camera in his pocket and his son was acting funny, so he taped it. He thought people might find it funny so he put it on the internet, and it happened to explode. The father of the balloon boy staged an elaborate hoax costing hundreds of thousands of tax dollars in the hopes of getting a reality show. Pretty big diff if you ask me.
Plus, I bet people that have a problem with the balloon boy’s father also like Lost!
I just up-voted you, but to be fair, lost is kind of horrible at times. You think it will ever be explained why they needed to press the button in the hatch instead a machine doing it, why there was a dharma station that monitored the hatch that claimed it was just an experiment, why IT’s pneumatic report tube went NOWHERE (BAM-bam-baam!), why they hinted it was all in hurly’s mind, or why the christian themes and apparitions with christening claire’s baby? Those are just a few of the myriad dead-end mindfucks.
It’s a good show though, seen all seasons here!
Stefan, what are you talking about?
No, I don’t think that all will be explained, but then again, I still don’t know why my parents got divorced and I am a middle aged lawyer, so clearly I don’t push too hard for answers to things.
I like how he knows that he can’t just be like, “Look, we are making a lot of money on this. I clearly understand that it is creepy, exploitative and awful, but we had a family meeting and decided that we love being paid $200,000.”
I hear David met his future wife at the dentist’s office.
He’s too young to settle!
Bobsled.
Was the future wife in question one Jennifer Garner still stuck in full retard mode from her performance in the movie 13 going on 30?
I drowsily, wearily, and most of all Thankfully pass the torch to you, Steve Winwood.
what is this torch you speak of, DS3M?
That was a good funny.
These cats hate your jib. Keep Rollin with it.
Stay tuned for their long-awaited follow-up video, “David After Morning Benders Show.” (“I don’t see what the big deal is. I’m glad that performance wasn’t forever.” -David)
I just found the premise for my next novel.
College-age David goes to college with the money gained from this video and lives his life being known as “That druggy kid who was on that MeTube video, or whatever.” What does he think of his father? What does he make of the video of his tiny self?
I’ve already used “Hey, remember ‘David After Dentist’? Yeah, that was me” as a pickup line. I’m like thirty tho, so it only works on really stupid people.
YES. I wrote a story once about a guy who tries to resume his normal life after appearing on Jerry Springer. It was poorly executed, but I think it’s a great question: What happens to these people after a briefly remarkable and mildly humiliating spot in the sun? The truth, I think, is not much. As more and more people exploit themselves, they become like college tattoos. This thing you can point to that makes you unique, but still pretty similar to hundreds of thousands of other people.
How much should I tip Lonelygirl15 for refilling my coffee more than once?
this week on facebook my obnoxious oversharing friends with children have been trumped in obnoxiousness only by my friends who are at sxsw. this fucking guy is both, way to be two times the asshat, dude.
How is the exploitation? It’s not like the dad slipped the dentist a $20 to up the dosage. And he’s egging him on maybe a little bit, but he could have said, “Yes, this will be forever. Now please touch your stitches again.”
“How is the exploitation?”
“Oh, the exploitation is quite nice, actually. Thanks for asking.”
(Clearly I meant “How is this exploitation?”)
To answer this question: “Admittedly, I am a little confused why David’s college tuition remains such a far off dream. Didn’t he just say that the video had earned a significant amount of money in the low six figures?”
I’d just like to point out that if David ends up getting into a private school in 10 years w/out a scholarship and Dad doesn’t want to saddle him with student loans it’ll cost upwards of $250k. Hooray for inflation!
Word. (sorry!)
As someone who just got into private college I would like to say YIKES! I wish I had been exploited as a youngster if it meant free school.
Wait, Gabe, when you say you don’t know what it’s like to be a father, you really mean it’s been so long that you forget what it was like to be a father, right?
This is bs. I got drugged up at the dentist yesterday and I started listening and singing along to Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without You.” Where’s my money?
the “david after dentist” t-shirt looks like some half rate threadless.com design. who would wear that trash. I mean like excuse me, hansel, have you ever heard of hair gel? He’s a model I’m sure he’s heard of hair gel. Earth to brent I was making a joke.
Wait what was I talking about again
It’s pretty clear to me now that as far as child-drugging goes, this route is way more profitable than the Roman Polanski Method.
Does anyone really believe a father that would do this to his children will actually have the money around when the child is old enough to go to college? Ten dollars says the kid turns out worse than the gosselin kids raised by Gary Coleman at the Jackson reunion.
The real tragedy is that the dad didn’t tape David’s recovery room bonding session with Wesley Snipes.
Best part: “When my video first got really popular, everybody [in school] started to know it, but then nobody was talking about it. I got some girls to like me now. I’m just a kid. ”
He’s just a kid!
In a completely unrelated development, I have just procured a Digital Video Cam, A large sum of pills and a handle of rum.
Not to be all Mathgum, but Gabe, don’t you mean “Maybe About Two-Hundred-Thousandaire After Dentist” rather than “Millionaire After Dentist”?
I would bet high six figures they have not made low six figures. That is total crap. Considering youtube loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year, they can’t afford to pay more than a fraction of a fraction of 1/100th of a cent per hit. It’s essentially nothing, like $50 for 10 million hits. Can’t remember where I read that, but it’s ridiculous, may even be less.
My guess is these idiots have made a couple hundred bucks or maybe even a grand or two. Then they got all starry-eyed and delusional, bought a bunch of video games Bluray movies, got all gratified, and then had visions of future materialistic conquests–a book deal, Hollywood, a Porsche, Oprah, Congress, fame, fortune, etc..–adding up dozens of these future hypothetical checks which are destined of course to keep getting bigger and bigger.
It depends on how often people are clicking on the YouTube ads, but based on my own experiences, it would be more like $5,000 for 10 million views, so $25,000 for 50. Of course, they weren’t YouTube Partners from the beginning, so a lot of those views came without any ads. The real money has obviously come from ancillary revenues like licensing the clip for a Super Bowl commercial. That wouldn’t come cheap.
Also, Gabe, if by “Scrooge McDuck’s Vault” you meant Harvard, low six figures would maybe just barely get David through if he started now. This fall it’ll be over $50,000/yr for incoming freshmen. I shudder to think what it will cost to go to Harvard Hover-school in 2020.
“Pete Waterman, who wrote the Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up,” complains that after his song was streamed tens of millions of times during the heyday of the Rickrolling phenomenon, he only made about $15.”
you’re forgetting that these guys set up merchandising behind the video, t-shirts and what not. With 50 million hits, i can believe that there were 5 thousand people dumb enough to buy a “David After Dentist” shirt. Those things will have a cultural half-life of never!
(actually i just looked up their t-shirt and it is surprisingly snazzy)
He’s complaining because YouTube allowed a song that had become obscure to vault into cultural relevancy again?
And $15 is way less than the tons of money he was going to get in 2009 had YouTube not happened to his song?