Charlie Bit My Finger hits half a billion YouTube views

The clip, recently used in an advert by EE for their new 4G mobile service, was only intended to be seen by the boys' godfather overseas, but is now the most popular video ever uploaded onto the website.

Titled Charlie Bit My Finger – Again, the clip has made unlikely international stars of brothers Harry 5, and Charlie, 2. It has featured on television shows in the US and even sparked fan clubs for the boys in countries including Lebanon and Belize.

Parents Howard and Shelley Howard Davies-Carr, from Buckinghamshire, said that they had been overwhelmed by the popularity of the video, which they posted in March 2007.

"To say the response has been insane is not even close. My sons are now almost legendary. People want their autographs – it's just crazy," said Mr Davies-Carr, an IT consultant, when the clip first went viral in 2008.

"Last August there were only 20 hits a day. By Christmas I was stunned to see it hit a million," he told The Sun newspaper at the time.

The boys are shy about their new fame and get embarrassed when the clip is shown on television, according to their mother who now also has a third son, Jasper.

Three new "Charlie Bit Me" shows starring Harry, Charlie and younger brother Jasper have now also gone live on YouTube.

The first three pilot episodes titled "Biting News", "King of The Week" and "Charlie Bites...Toys" were produced by Viral Studios and video monetisation firm Rightster to showcase a selection of lighthearted viral videos from around the web.

The producers of the new films claim high speed mobile broadband together with the widespread adoption of smartphone and tablet devices has resulted in a dramatic shift to video consumption on the go with 73.5 per cent of all views in 2012 coming from these devices, compared to 45.2 per cent in 2011 and 22.4 per cent in 2010.

The original video was uploaded to YouTube on the 22 May 2007 and has since attracted audiences worldwide with the USA, Mexico, UK, Canada, Germany, Brazil, Australia and most recently, Saudi Arabia all having featured in the top 5 list of countries generating the most views each year. There have also been 103 views from the Vatican City and three views from Tokelau, a territory of New Zealand with a population of approximately 1,400 inhabitants.

Howard Davies-Carr, father of Harry, Charlie and Jasper added: "We love that such a simple video has touched so many souls. We hope the boys can continue to lighten up peoples' lives in the years to come."