Being Mocked And Making Money: 5 Thriving YouTube Videos

3. David After Dentist: The Small Fry

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Granted, we didn’t exactly laugh at David DeVore, Jr. of the way-viral “David After Dentist” video. It was more like we were laughing with the 7-year-old. David’s dad filmed him behaving super-woozily after a dentist’s visit; the kid was pretty much robotrippin’ off some anesthesia. The video went way-viral and, according to YouTube, it was 2009’s second most-watched video. Today, it’s been viewed over 70.5 million times.

But David’s family, and in particular his father, whose voice appears prominently in the video, has turned those YouTube hits into serious cash. He told CNN that the family had earned six figures off the video, presumably from YouTube’s ad-sharing network and other ventures. The family sells t-shirts and stickers emblazoned with David’s signature “Is this real life?” phrase, and merchandised scrubs (scrubs!) are for sale at ScrubsAndBeyond.com. David, now 9 years old, is a spokesperson for the Dr Fresh Firely toothbrush. As the DeVores themselves proclaim on their website, “We’ve turned our 15 minutes of fame into a family business.”