‘Charlie Bit My Finger' Video Still Churning a Profit

2007 viral sensation now at 417M views, and family is cashing in
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 10, 2012 5:36 PM CST
‘Charlie Bit My Finger' Video Still Churning a Profit
A screen shot from YouTube.   (YouTube.com)

The 2007 web video "Charlie Bit My Finger" has been viewed 417.6 million times and is now the most-watched noncommercial video in YouTube history, reports the New York Times. The newspaper checks in on the UK family that became inadvertent digital-age stars and finds that brothers Harry, now 7, and Charlie, 5, have become a brand of their own, if somewhat begrudgingly.

Their dad says the video has brought in about $160,000 for the family, thanks to a revenue-sharing partnership with YouTube. They're even working on a "Charlie" app for iPhone and Android and perhaps a line of children's books. (The family is represented by the marketing company Viral Spiral, which also handles the clients behind the sneezing baby panda video.) “I wouldn’t be upset if people stopped watching,” says dad. “People bring their own view and make assumptions based on no knowledge of us, but we’ve gone beyond the point where we can be angry at what they say." (More Charlie Bit My Finger stories.)

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