Va. brothers strike internet gold with viral video convincing little sister of zombie apocalypse

Meet the two brothers who pulled off one of the most epic viral pranks EVER! Cabot and Barrett Phillips convinced their little sister, Millicent, (who was still feeling the anesthesia after having her wisdom teeth removed) that the zombie apocalypse was upon them and that they needed to prepare. What resulted was an almost four minute video that has almost 16 million views on YouTube and left everyone who has watched it in stitches.

It turns out the family is local-- and FOX 5’s Bob Barnard caught up with them at their Leesburg, Va. home on Friday morning to talk about the video, how they planned it, and how they are dealing with their newly found internet fame! 

THE PLAN

"Well, when we found out my sister was getting her wisdom teeth out, we wanted to do something crazy," Cabot told Barnard. "We thought - everyone has done the normal wisdom teeth thing - let's add zombies!"

The brothers said that while they take responsibility for planning planned the prank, they enlisted their mother to help get their sister to believe the story. Though she's not seen in the video, mom was running around gathering "supplies" and doing her best to convince Millicent that the zombies were actually coming.

"Everyone says, 'Oh, the big brothers, she needs to get them back,' she needs to get our mom back. Our mom was in on it, too," Cabot told FOX 5.

"She shares the culpability for this just as much as anyone else!" Barrett added.

"THE CAT, YOU IDIOT!"

The idea, the brothers said, was to get their sister to make ridiculous decisions-- including whether to take the family cat OR the dog, but not both, with them as they made their escape. Once they started down that path, most of what followed was improvised.

"There's been universal consensus from this video. Millicent is who you want on your team in a zombie apocalypse," Cabot told FOX 5. "She proved herself to be rationale and strong and willing to take weapons and do whatever she had to defend ourselves and our family."

"As big brothers, we did our job preparing her to take on this world and to survive in this world. So she can handle herself. She can beat up any guy that gets in her way," added Barrett.

The brothers say that they are big fans of AMC's The Walking Dead, a television series that follows survivors after a zombie apocalypse. They’re convinced that Millicent-- who is too scared to watch the show with them-- absorbed a lot of the zombie-fighting knowledge the show has to offer!

"We're a really close family and Millicent is such an amazing young woman, said Cabot. "I thought - if we're going to do this. If we’re going to spend some time and mess with her she deserves for us to do it right."

INTERNET FAME - OH, AND NO HARD FEELINGS FROM THE DOG

The brothers say since the video has snowballed into what it has become, they have enjoyed the attention and being recognized on the street. The family recently returned from a trip to California where they appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. They also say Millicent, who was off Friday on a school field trip to Chicago,  is handling her newly found internet stardom in stride and that her friends may even be more excited than she is.

"She’s such a humble young woman!" Cabot said of his sister.

And by the way - the family cat, Hercules, AND the family dog, Napoleon, are both alive and well and enjoying the ride, too.

If you haven’t seen the YouTube video, titled "Brothers Convince Little Sister of Zombie Apocalypse," it's a must-see. Click here to watch!