Sidetracked

David After Dentist Video Shows How to Make Money For Nothing

I guess I need to take my daughter to the dentist soon. Because, frankly, I could use the money.

 According to this CNN story, the family that posted the now-famous David After Dentist video on YouTube is now raking in 6-figures.

I’m no accountant, but I’m pretty sure that’s, like, $100,000. At least. Which is, like, WAY more than I make a year.

If you didn’t see the viral video, first of all, please climb out from under that rock you’ve been under. But to briefly summarize, David was a little boy who just had an appointment with the dentist. Still feeling woozy from the anesthesia — and talking like Otis, the old drunk from the “Andy Griffith Show” — David was saying funny stuff in the back of his dad’s car (“Is this real life?”) when pops recorded him.

Fifty-three million views later, David is a celebrity, whose video has brought about scores of parodies and money through licensing.  The dad, who appeared at the South by Southwest Festival this week, actually quit his job in real estate so he could focus on David stuf, like T-shirts and stickers. (That’s one of the stickers on the right.)

Now, of course, some say this guy is exploiting his child. Even the dentist who performed the procedure said he wants nothing to do with the video.

And he might just have a point. Sure, I could use a hundred grand. Right now I’m wearing socks with holes. But would I exploit my own child to get a little cash? I mean, yeah, she’s pretty darn cute. Says lots of funny things, too.  And, yes, maybe I have captured a few of her funny moments on film. But would I do something as calculated as actually sharing her funny moments with the world in an attempt to make a mere hundred thousand dollars?

That’s sick, man.  Sick, sick, sick.

Posted on March 18th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: The World According to Pat