You may have seen the video on our Youtube channel or the home page of David promoting the Firefly Toothbrush from the Dr Fresh company. 

We were approached by Dr Fresh in July about working together on a project to promote the Firefly. (His daughter is a big D.A.D fan.) They had some success promoting brand awareness via Youtube and Facebook but this was a whole new thing for them. A great example of businesses attempting to utilize new media.

After throwing some ideas back and forth we decided to see if David and I to come up with a video on our own that would work first. We filmed it on our own with my new Kodak Zi8 (not bad for a sub $200 camera eh? no we don't have a deal w them.) Edited it with iMovie, so easy I could do it.

I tried to keep it as natural as possible. Of course there are things you want to say when promoting something like this but I let David try and come up with the words on his own. For the record "Disco Mode" was my idea! We had a blast doing it. All told, I spent less than 10 hours total for the whole thing.

We happened to be on vacation in Georgia and I used some of the footage for the day in the life segments. You are also introduced to my son William, who is 4 years old but thinks he's a teenager. He loved being part of the video and did a great job.

While we certainly saw the financial benefit potential of the D.A.D soon after it went viral, we have been very careful with what we associated it with. There have been a few projects we have turned down because it wasn't appropriate.

The partnership with Dr Fresh was perfect. If fit our criteria that included liking the product (boys already had one), had a good message (dental care for kids, a huge hidden issue in the usa, esp with poor kids), and benefitting our charity efforts (Operation Smile received $2000 from both parties as part of the agreement)

So far the project has met our goals. Making it go viral was never an expectation. Don't get me wrong, we want views but we know it wont come close to D.A.D. The whole point is to get the word out about the Firefly brand. With 30,000 plus views and media mentions in the hundreds during the first week, Id say we did pretty well.

We have enjoyed our initial project with Dr Fresh and hope there will be more in future. I would love to buy a "David After Dentist" toothbrush at Walmart or Target soon.

What do you say Dr Fresh?

David's Dad

Click for more photos.

David and I had the opportunity to attend ROFLCON 2 at MIT in Boston this past weekend. We had a blast. It was a symposium of sorts on Internet culture and memes. Academia meets viral videos if you will.

These are some of the pictures we took. I hope to have video up soon from our panel. David did very well for his first time.

D.A.D.

This is a video of our newest fan, Serena. Thanks Serena for sharing this video with us!

BTW, I would'nt even attempt this. The walking and chewing gum thing? With me, Its always step and chew, step and chew.

David After Dentist is a true viral sensation that has created many laughs, some questions and a little controversy. You know the kid. You know the original video. By now you’ve seen the 2009 video hit many times. Chances are you or someone you know has memorized the dialogue of David, then 7 and fresh from dental surgery, displaying the loopy aftermath of the procedure. Now, in this never before seen footage, you will see David Before Dentist which confirms his dad, David DeVore, was documenting the day's events for his wife. Of utmost interest, there is additional video of David After Dentist. Not only will you see David interacting with his dad again, but also his Aunt.

In this uncut portion you will hear some of the now famous quotable lines, like "You have four eyes." Even more thrilling, viewers will not only relive the humor of the original video but will laugh all over again as they share in David's experience and hear him say new catchy phrases like "I don't know what I'm doing" and "Boo-Hoo!"

"People ask for more videos on a daily basis, but we have been careful because we are aware that it would be difficult for anything else to approach the success of “David After Dentist,” said DeVore. “However, now seems like the right time to release the uncut, unedited extra footage we have."

The story: DeVore had bought a new Flip camera around the same time that his son, also named David, had dental surgery scheduled to remove an extra permanent tooth he was born with. His wife couldn’t get out of a meeting, so DeVore decided to film and show her everything was fine. He shared it on Facebook and then, several months later, learned of a site called YouTube and posted it there, too. CNN called. The “Today” show called. Tyra Banks called. Fox called. Hundreds of radio and newspaper interviews fueled the flames. Hordes of Web surfers called it the best video ever made and watched it more times than any other YouTube video in 2009, aside from Susan Boyle’s quivering appearance on “Britain’s Got Talent.”

David After Dentist is nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Best Viral Video. "David really wants to win, mainly so he can go to Toys-R-Us in Times Square," DeVore says.

The video has been viewed more than 57 million times and is still viewed over 100,000 times a day with several thousand also visiting the website each day. On daviddfterdentist.com, visitors can buy T-shirts ($20) and stickers ($5). Merchandise has shipped to more than 20 countries. All in all, with the licensing deals, the T-shirts and the YouTube Partner Program, the DeVores have earned “in the low six figures,” says DeVore, who runs the operation out of the family’s spare bedroom while David and younger brother William are in school.

"We started out thinking this was a fun event that would pay for a few video games. But as the demand grew we realized there was more to this. Maybe it wasn't about videos and vacations, maybe it was David's college education we could pay for. With that in mind we started to look at David After Dentist as a brand," said DeVore.

Its not just about the money. The charitable efforts are also an important part of the vision. "The answers to David's questions came easy for him. However, there are many out there that need more than just a reassuring word from a parent. They need real help. We hope to provide for that in whatever way we can. More than $7,000 has gone to various charities, including the children’s dental charity Operation Smile and Drew Olanoff's Blame Drews Cancer

DeVore has also been busy fielding speaking engagements. In the last few months he has spoken at South by Southwest (SXSW), Book  launch event for Jennifer Abernathy's Complete Idiots Guide to Social Media, Jeff Pulver's 140Conf in NYC and ROFLCON at MIT in Boston. The media probing is morphing into more questions about the business than the video. And indeed, it seems that in the era of viral marketing and social media DeVore has figured a few things out -- like how to monetize all the attention -- and people are eager to hear what he has learned. "Granted, I was thrust into this basically by accident, but I realize this is a unique experience and the things I've learned -- and still learning -- are pertinent to the times we are living in."

David After Dentist
by Megan Friedman

More than 57 million people have seen 7-year-old David DeVore's backseat trip from the dentist's office after oral surgery. The medication seems to have left David in a higher state of consciousness: he spouts lines like "You have four eyes" and "Is this gonna be forever?" Some critics called the video exploitative — arguing it took advantage of a child for laughs — but in interviews, David said he wasn't bothered by the attention and that his classmates thought the clip was funny. Once the world had seen David, his father set up a website selling T-shirts featuring David's classic question, "Is this real life?" And it's paying off: the DeVores have made nearly enough to cover David's (eventual) college education.

Family cashing in on 'David After Dentist'
by Etan Horowitz, CNN

Austin, Texas (CNN) -- If you spend any time on the Internet, you've no doubt seen "David After Dentist," the YouTube video of a woozy 7-year-old boy in the back seat of a car, struggling to understand the effects of anesthesia.

The viral clip has been viewed almost 54 million times and gave rise to the catchphrase, "Is this real life?" It was the second most-watched video of 2009, according to YouTube, trailing only Susan Boyle's appearance on "Britain's Got Talent."

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 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."

DeVore gave a presentation this week at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas, where he explained what the family's life has been like in the 13 months since the video went viral.

"Well, I'm David DeVore, also known as David's dad, or the idiot that posted a video of his son on YouTube," he told the audience as he began his talk. DeVore then played a video greeting from David, who is now 9 years old and looks noticeably older than he does in the famous video, which was shot in May 2008.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you in Austin," young David says in the new video. "I have school, you know."

DeVore said he shot the original video for two reasons: His wife couldn't attend the dental surgery, so he wanted to show her that David was OK after having an extra tooth removed. Also, he wanted to show David, who was nervous about the procedure, that the anticipation is often the worst part.

"So much for that idea," DeVore said.

He first posted the video on Facebook, but not all his relatives were members of the social-networking site, so he uploaded it to YouTube during the last weekend in January last year, never thinking anyone beside friends and family would watch it.

By the next Tuesday, it had been viewed 3 million times. The video has since spawned dozens of parodies, including "Chad After Dentist" and "David After The Divorce."

Then the media came calling. David and his father appeared on a bevy of TV and radio shows, including NBC's "Today" and Tyra Banks' show. They also did phone interviews with reporters from as far away as Brazil, Spain, Germany and Australia. David's voice also was featured in a 2010 Super Bowl commercial for a Vizio TV.

But not everyone loved the video. According to DeVore, a Chicago Sun-Times columnist wrote that he should be sent to jail and David placed in child protective services. When DeVore appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Fox News show, O'Reilly told him, "I would never do this to my kids. I think it's a little exploitative."

The surgeon who performed the surgery on David also "wants nothing to do with the video," DeVore said.

DeVore said he got his son's permission before posting the video. He also said the family turned down a lot of money from a TV award show that wanted to use the video because they felt the skit wasn't appropriate.

"There's nothing that I wouldn't do to protect David and there's just been nothing to worry about through all this," DeVore said the day after his South by Southwest appearance.

"As much as he can understand, we've included him in the decision process and there's been nothing he didn't want to do that we have been involved in," he added. "This fits David's personality. If David's personality and temperament were different, or if he had not liked that I had recorded [the video], then I wouldn't have posted it."

In the video greeting shown at South by Southwest on Tuesday, little David said he has enjoyed his Internet fame.

"It's helped me to go to a lot of places that I would have never gotten to go to before," said the boy.

"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. It's not really often that kids get famous."

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."

DeVore used to work as a real-estate agent but has quit that for now to focus on the little "David After Dentist" empire and spend more time volunteering at his son's school. It's a family venture: David often helps box up T-shirts to fill orders, and mom Tessie DeVore, a publishing company executive, spends about an hour each night moderating comments about the video on YouTube.

"We've turned our 15 minutes of fame into a family business," DeVore said. The family has also donated about $6,000 to charity, including some dental organizations, he said.

The video continues to get about 100,000 views a day, and DeVore said he still hears from people who are discovering it. He has even heard from medical students who want to use the video in presentations about anesthesiology.

"I understand it [the appeal] to a certain extent because it is my kid, but even I don't look at [the video] every day," DeVore said.

The weekend before Christmas David and I had the opportunity to fly to LA for a taping of TOSH.O that will air Jan 13th at 10:30 on Comedy Central. We had a blast. I cant say anything more than it will be very funny and you should enjoy it. Daniel and the crew were great. Cant wait to see it.

Web Redemption - David After 'David After Dentist'

We had a great time visiting California for the first time. We had heard so much about In and Out Burger that we had to stop there first. David thought it was the best meal he had ever had. I, on the other hand, was a bit disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, it was tasty, but it wouldn't be what I'd request as my last meal like I had been lead to believe.

We then ventured over to the Hollywood area. We checked out the Chinese Theater and Michael Jackson's star.

We then went to a taping of the Jimmy Kimmel Show. David was too young to sit in the audience so we got to sit in the control room where all the action is. We then got to go peek at the audience before the show and say hello. People were excited to meet David. After the show, we got hang out with the writers and Erin the producer. They couldn't have been nicer to us. Jimmy came out and was a great host, asking David questions, signing autographs, and posing for pictures. He even took the time to look up show times for Avatar. Great guy.

Thanks Erin, for treating us like movie stars!

Sunday was our day to play around. We went on a hike up the lookout of Culver City Park. You can see from the Hollywood Sign to the Pacific. It was worth the risk of heart attack climbing up that hill. We then ventured to find the closest view of the Hollywood Sign. We learned this is not and easy place to find. Thanks God I rented the Garmin. Turns out, the sign is in a residential neighborhood and a nice one at that. I am sure the residents love all the traffic. We were referred to a great website called hollywoodsign.org that showed us how to get to the closest spot. We spend about an hour just hanging out and taking goofy pictures. David is quite the ham.

We had a great time in LA. What a great memory for David and I to have. We wont soon forget it. We hope to go back soon to see more of the area.

David After Dentist
by Dan Fletcher

Seven-year-old David DeVore might have taken the most famous dental trip in history. After David had minor surgery in January, his dad was at the ready in the family car to film his son, who alternated between lying slumped in the backseat, questioning his drugged-out reality and straight-out screaming. David's trippy two minutes have been seen by more than 35 million people and spawned a mini–family business. The DeVores developed a website and T-shirts, and both son and father are scheduled to speak at the 2010 ROFLCon, an Internet-culture festival held at MIT.