Charlie Bit My Finger
Encyclopedia
"Charlie Bit My Finger – Again!", 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. 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.
in May 2007—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". 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. 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."
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. He chose YouTube because the size of the video file was so big that it could not be sent by email. 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."
. As of November 2009, "Charlie Bit My Finger - Again!" had received over 130 million hits. 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. 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. 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. It has since been surpassed by several other music videos. As of July 2011 it has over 350 million views, and remains the most viewed YouTube video that is not a professional music video.
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." 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." Howard commented that his sons "are now almost legendary. People want their autographs, it's just crazy."
According to the Daily Mail
, fan clubs dedicated to Harry and Charlie have been established around the world. 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. 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." 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."
In their list of YouTube's 50 greatest viral videos of all time, Time
ranked "Charlie Bit My Finger" at number one.
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
famous for formerly being the most viewed YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video of all time. 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
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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.
Background
The 56 second long video which was uploaded on YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
in May 2007—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". 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. The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
said the funniest part of the video is "the face on Charlie who appears as though he knows what he's doing."
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. He chose YouTube because the size of the video file was so big that it could not be sent by email. 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."
Views
"Charlie Bit My Finger" had received 2.6 million hits on YouTube at the start of February 2008 and 12 million hits in March 2008. In December 2008, it was the twelfth most viewed video on YouTube with 65 million hits. In April the following year, the video had received 92 million hits. It became the second most viewed video of all time in August 2009, and took over the title as the most viewed video ever at the end of October 2009, when it replaced Evolution of DanceJudson Laipply
Judson Laipply is an American motivational speaker and dancer from Bucyrus, Ohio. He is best known for his performance in the Evolution of Dance viral video clip. He has worked as a public speaker since 2000.-The Evolution of Dance:...
. As of November 2009, "Charlie Bit My Finger - Again!" had received over 130 million hits. 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. 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. In 2011, it was surpassed by Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...
's "Baby
Baby (Justin Bieber song)
"Baby" is a song by Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber. It was released as the lead single from the latter half of Bieber's debut album, My World 2.0. The track was written by Bieber with Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash, both of whom worked with Bieber on "One Time",...
", Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
's "Bad Romance
Bad Romance
"Bad Romance" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released as the lead single from her third extended play , and second major release The Fame Monster . Written by Lady Gaga and produced by RedOne, the track was inspired by Gaga's fear of negative love relationships and the...
", Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
feat. Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
's "Love the Way You Lie
Love the Way You Lie
"Love the Way You Lie" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his seventh studio album, Recovery . It was released as the album's second single on August 9, 2010, by Interscope-Geffen-A&M. The song features vocals by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna. According to her, its theme...
"and Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
"Waka Waka " is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, featuring South African band Freshlyground. It was the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with its Spanish language version, entitled "Waka Waka "...
". In September 2011, it was surpassed by Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
feat. Pitbull
Pitbull (rapper)
Armando Christian Pérez , better known by his stage name Pitbull, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer. His first recorded performance was from the Lil Jon album Kings of Crunk in 2002, after which he released his debut album in 2004 titled M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records...
's "On The Floor
On the Floor
"On the Floor" is a song by American recording artist and actress Jennifer Lopez, featuring Latin American rapper Pitbull. It was released by Island Records on February 11, 2011, as the lead single from Lopez's seventh studio album, Love?...
", becoming the 6th most viewed video on YouTube. It has since been surpassed by several other music videos. As of July 2011 it has over 350 million views, and remains the most viewed YouTube video that is not a professional music video.
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. 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. 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." 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." 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." Shelley commented on the success: "Susan BoyleSusan Boyle
Susan Magdalane Boyle is a Scottish singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from ...
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." 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." Howard commented that his sons "are now almost legendary. People want their autographs, it's just crazy."
According to the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, fan clubs dedicated to Harry and Charlie have been established around the world. According to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, web experts believe the Davies-Carr family could earn £100,000 from "Charlie Bit My Finger", mostly from advertisements shown during the video. A The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the 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." 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."
In their list of YouTube's 50 greatest viral videos of all time, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
ranked "Charlie Bit My Finger" at number one.
External links
- Original video on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....