Cute little David had an extra tooth that needed to be removed, or, as he said, ‘he’d be eating with my nose’.  His dad, David Devore, took him to the dentist, filmed it for his concerned mom who had a big corporate meeting that day with executives from around the country.  A flip camcorder and cell phone captured the action.

David’s family thought no one would see the video but family and friends, they loaded it onto Facebook and Youtube and were surprised when strangers began clicking on it.  They worried that viewers were mocking David but were happy to see that instead, viewers were entertained by the whacked-out deep musings of a kid drugged with ketamine…

As of today, David After the Dentist has had 58 MILLION hits (not as many as ‘Charlie bit my finger’s 185 million views), it’s the 20^th ‘Most Watched’ video on Youtube, and was featured on Time.com’s ‘YouTube’s 50 Best Videos’.  Now its up for a Webby for Best Viral of the Year.  Webby’s voting system, People’s Voice, had record numbers of votes this year. They announce Webby Award winners on Tuesday, May 4, 2010.

Its not the hits, though, that make the ‘David after the Dentist’ story.  Its how quickly the family figured out the power of social media and was able to monetize the two minute video.

David’s parents got on the social media bandwagon and signed up as YouTube advertising partners, started Facebook and Twitter accounts, got a webpage up and got some t-shirts ($20) and stickers ($5) for sale.  They’ve sold and mailed products to 20 countries, David is a worldwide sensation.  The Devores have made ‘low six figures’ since the video was uploaded in 2009, and donated $7000 to Operation Smile and Drew Olanoff’s Blame Drews Cancer.

David’s dad is now a cutting edge social media maven, one of the first to parlay his two minute video into an internet sensation and a cash cow.  He’s spoken at SXSW, 140Conf and ROFLCON. Little David even met Tyra Banks (I wish we had video of doped-up David meeting her!). They’ve turned their 15 minutes of fame into a family business, and David’s college fund is growing.  All because of a few moments captured on a Flip, steroidally enhanced with social media tools.