- Charlie Bit My Finger
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Charlie Bit My Finger 
Harry and Charlie as seen in the video.Release date(s) May 22, 2007 Running time 56 seconds "Charlie Bit My Finger – Again!",[1] more simply known as Charlie Bit My Finger or Charlie Bit Me (referring to a quotation in the video), is an 2007 Internet viral video famous for formerly being the most viewed YouTube video of all time.[2][3] As of November 2011 it has more than 389 million views, and remains the most viewed YouTube video that is not a professional music video. The clip features two English brothers, aged three and one. In the video, the younger brother, Charlie, bites the finger of his older brother, Harry. The boys' father uploaded the video online in May 2007.
Contents
Background
Even had I thought of trying to get my boys to do this I probably couldn't have, neither were coerced into any of this and neither were hurt (for very long anyway).
Howard Davies-Carr, father of the boys[4]The 56 second long video[5] which was uploaded on YouTube in May 2007[6]—features two English brothers, Harry Davies-Carr (aged three) and Charlie Davies-Carr (aged one). The two are seen sitting in a chair when Harry puts his finger into Charlie's mouth and gets bitten. Harry, who is hurt, says "ouch" repeatedly and his brother begins to giggle. Afterwards, Harry smiles and says "Charlie bit me".[2] Howard Davies-Carr, the father of the boys, said the video was "simply an attempt to capture the boys growing up". While watching the fingerbiting scene on his camera after recording it, it "didn't particularly stand out". It was not until he transferred the video onto his computer a few weeks later and played it again that he realized it was funny.[7] The Vancouver Sun said the funniest part of the video is "the face on Charlie who appears as though he knows what he's doing."[8]
The Davies-Carr family lives in England. Howard uploaded the video onto YouTube so that it could be watched by the boys' godfather, who was residing in the United States.[2] He chose YouTube because the size of the video file was so big that it could not be sent by email.[9] Howard commented on the video: "The clip only went up as I wanted to share it with the boys' godfather. I was naive about the whole YouTube thing. It became viral and once that happened there was nothing I could do. People have sent lovely comments and messages and I now upload a new video of the boys every six weeks."[2]
Views
"Charlie Bit My Finger" had received 2.6 million hits on YouTube at the start of February 2008[10] and 12 million hits in March 2008.[11] In December 2008, it was the twelfth most viewed video on YouTube with 65 million hits.[12] In April the following year, the video had received 92 million hits.[13] It became the second most viewed video of all time in August 2009,[14] and took over the title as the most viewed video ever at the end of October 2009, when it replaced Evolution of Dance.[2] As of November 2009, "Charlie Bit My Finger - Again!" had received over 130 million hits.[2] In addition to being the most viewed, it was also the "most favorited" and the second "most discussed" video on the website in the United Kingdom.[6] In a May 2009 report compiled by Visible Measures, which measures video hits across 150 video-sharing websites, "Charlie Bit My Finger" was the thirteenth most viewed viral video of all time on the Internet.[15] In 2011, it was surpassed by Justin Bieber's "Baby", Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance", Eminem feat. Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie"and Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)". In September 2011, it was surpassed by Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull's "On The Floor", becoming the 6th most viewed video on YouTube.[9][16] It has since been surpassed by several other music videos.[16] As of July 2011 it has over 350 million views, and remains the most viewed YouTube video that is not a professional music video.[17]
Impact
As a result of the video's success, the boys have gained stardom. Harry and Charlie have their own blog and video series, and "Charlie Bit My Finger" T-shirts and limited edition calendars have been made.[2] As of July 2010, more than thirty other clips of Harry and Charlie had been uploaded by their father to YouTube, which have also been seen by millions. They also feature Jasper, the third child in the family.[9] Shelley Davies-Carr, the mother, told The Sun in 2010 that "a lot of people like seeing Harry and Charlie growing up and following the family story. They knew I was pregnant with Jasper and now they're watching him grow up."[9] In the same article Howard noted, however, that he has "deliberately kept away from the personal bits. You don't see their birthdays, school plays or things like the first time they cycled. All I do is put up one clip every six weeks and an awful lot happens every six weeks."[9] Howard has stated that he will not continue to upload videos of his children when they grow older. He said in 2010 that "I don't know if they'll take it over. I'd like to think they'd have an interest, but it will be their decision."[9] Shelley commented on the success: "Susan Boyle has never had the hits we have had. The video got on to a college networking site in the US and from there it went viral. I think the British accents have helped make it so globally viewed."[2] According to a 2008 interview with Shelley, the boys get embarrassed when they see themselves on television. She also noted that they are "shy about their new fame."[12][18] Howard commented that his sons "are now almost legendary. People want their autographs, it's just crazy."[6][18]
According to the Daily Mail, fan clubs dedicated to Harry and Charlie have been established around the world.[19] According to The Times, web experts believe the Davies-Carr family could earn £100,000 from "Charlie Bit My Finger", mostly from advertisements shown during the video.[2] A The Wall Street Journal article by Diana Ransom claims that Howard Davies-Carr "won't say exactly how much his family has earned from the video, but the added income made it more possible to afford a new house, he says."[20] He has said, however, that although "many people have said we should do mugs and keyrings, [...] we have deliberately not commercialised the children. It's just that we don't want it to change the boys' lives."[9]
In their list of YouTube's 50 greatest viral videos of all time, Time ranked "Charlie Bit My Finger" at number one.[21]
References
- ^ Learmonth, Michael (2010-02-22). "Lowered Expectations: Web Redefines 'Quality'". Advertising Age. http://www.businessinsider.com/lowered-expectations-web-redefines-quality-2010-2. Retrieved 2010-03-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Chittenden, Maurice (2009-11-01). "Harry and Charlie Davies-Carr: Web gets taste for biting baby". The Times. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article6898146.ece. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- ^ Stack, Brittany (2010-03-21). "Meet YouTube's 224 million girl, Natalie Tran". ¨The Sunday Telegraph. http://www.news.com.au/technology/meet-youtubes-224-million-girl-natalie-tran/story-e6frfro0-1225843291213. Retrieved 2010-03-21.
- ^ Jarboe, Greg (2009). "Week II: Watch the Best Viral Videos of 2007". YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day. John Wiley and Sons. p. 129. ISBN 9780470459690. http://books.google.com/books?id=WaBicMvGidsC&pg=PT159&dq=%22Charlie+Bit+My+Finger%22&ei=3CAHS-XALJSuywT67OC_Dw#v=onepage&q=%22Charlie%20Bit%20My%20Finger%22&f=false.
- ^ Hoby, Hermione; Lamont, Tom (2010-04-11). "How YouTube made superstars out of everyday people". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/apr/11/youtube-web-video-stars. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
- ^ a b c Hutcheon, Stephen (2009-10-28). "Once bitten, now watched by millions on YouTube". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/once-bitten-now-watched-by-millions-on-youtube-20091028-hjsc.html?autostart=1. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- ^ Allan, Vicky (2009-05-30). "Famous for 15 minutes? Who needs that long? Bedroom singers, leisure-park stunt riders and biting babies have all been REAL LIVES YouTube celebrities. How do they feel about their accidental stardom?". The Herald.
- ^ "Top-5 most popular YouTube videos of all-time". The Vancouver Sun. 2010-04-07. http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/most+popular+YouTube+videos+time/2774643/story.html. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g Masters, David (2010-07-30). "TWO British brothers have made internet history by clocking up 250MILLION YouTube hits". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3074658/Charlie-bit-my-finger-boys-get-their-own-hit-blog.html. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
- ^ Kinkead, Lucinda Dillon (2008-02-03). "YouTube serves up some gems". The Deseret News: p. B01.
- ^ Laidman, Andrea (2008-03-18). "An eye for an eye ...". The Observer (University of Notre Dame). http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/2.2756/an-eye-for-an-eye-1.259068. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- ^ a b Moore, Matthew (2008-12-05). "Finger-biting brothers become YouTube hit". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3564392/Finger-biting-brothers-become-YouTube-hit.html. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- ^ Sostek, Anya (2009-04-20). "In 4 years, YouTube succeeded in catching world's eye". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09110/964151-84.stm. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- ^ Neate, Rupert (2009-08-26). "YouTube to allow creators to cash in on their 15 minutes of viral fame". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6092625/YouTube-to-allow-creators-to-cash-in-on-their-15-minutes-of-viral-fame.html. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- ^ Moses, Asher (2009-05-06). "Rapper tops viral video list as Boyle closes in". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/web/rapper-tops-viral-video-list-as-boyle-closes-in/2009/05/06/1241289213149.html. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- ^ a b "Most viewed videos". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/videos?lg=EN&s=mp&t=a. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
- ^ "Charlie bit my finger - again !". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
- ^ a b Wheeler, Virginia (2008-12-05). "You've been famed - Exclusive". The Sun: p. 49.
- ^ "Home video of toddler biting big brother's fingers becomes latest YouTube sensation - with 65 million views". Daily Mail. 2008-12-05. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1092138/Home-video-toddler-biting-big-brothers-fingers-latest-YouTube-sensation--65-million-views.html. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
- ^ Ransom, Diana (2010-06-18). "Earning Cash With YouTube Videos". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704122904575314851538643196.html?mod=WSJ_SmallBusiness_LEADNewsCollection. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
- ^ "YouTube's 50 Greatest Viral Videos". Time. 2010-03-29. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1974961,00.html. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
External links
Achievements Preceded by
Evolution of DanceMost Viewed Video on YouTube
Ranked 5th as of 2011Succeeded by
Lady Gaga — Bad RomanceCategories:- British films
- Internet memes
- YouTube videos
- Viral videos
- 2007 films
- Comedy films
- Short films
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
