I just love that word “Schadenfreude,” don’t you? In its original German, Schadenfreude (the word is capitalized in German, so I will stay true to that rule here) refers to the pure joy and delight that one gets from the misfortunes of others. While it’s not exactly a high minded concept, or anything close to being altruistic or generous, Schadenfreude probably comes as close as anything these days to defining the “true” soul of modern culture and society.

Does that sound overly cynical and negative? I am sure it does. When people learn that my favorite film of all time is David Mamet’s masterpiece of dark dialogue and working man’s angst, “Glengarry Glen Ross,” they are usually taken aback. How can you be so cynical about the world, they implore me? My usual answer is that I am the most optimistic and enthusiastic guy I know, but I just like exploring the dark side of business and life through art. I guess it’s the Schadenfreude deep inside me.

The power and universality of Schadenfreude is clear when you search the word on Wikipedia. I was amazed at how the meaning of the word is expressed in so many languages and cultures around the world. No matter what country or mother tongue, it all comes down to the fact that our greatest guilty pleasure is watching other people slip on the banana peel of life. Come clean…you revel in Schadenfreude sometimes, don’t you? Probably more frequently than you’d care to admit.

Schadenfreude immediately came to mind today as I read a story in the NY Times Business Section on the celebrity and gossip superstar editor Bonnie Fuller. The long and detailed profile discussed in pretty glowing terms about how the Canadian-born Fuller (I am always impressed by the influence of Canadians in American culture and media: Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, the countless great Canadian comedians and actors who made it big in the USA, etc.) first made her mark with women’s magazines like YM, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and then Glamour. She then moved on to her real calling in life, serving as the savior of supermarket celebrity/gossip rags like Us Weekly and finally Star (published by the National Enquirer folks). Bonnie Fuller did not invent celebrity and gossip journalism, she just perfected it for the masses.

The beating heart of Fuller’s oeuvre is Schadenfreude. Her stunning success in mining the public’s endless fascination about Brangelina, Lindsay, Gwyneth, Jen and Tiger really comes back to Schadenfreude. It has been said many times before about the culture of celebrity and gossip that we love to put the stars on their pedestals (by going to their movies, buying their tunes, watching their TV shows, supporting their teams, and buying their fashion and fragrances), but we derive even more pleasure from knocking them off. Again, Schadenfreude at its best — or worst.

The Times piece today reported that Fuller has now left the Star to do her own thing. She has lined up some big time private equity financing to launch — you guessed it! — a website. The new site will apparently focus on Fuller’s big three topics: gossip, fashion and romance. Even more surprising, inspired and motivated by her long track record of celebrity/gossip media success, Fuller now aspires to create a new brand around none other than Bonnie Fuller herself. If Martha Stewart and Oprah can do it, why can’t she? Over the years, Fuller has probably sold more magazines than Stewart and Lady O combined.

How 21st Century of her: A new media brand and empire built on Schadenfreude. But, Schadenfreude is not just about the pleasure of watching other’s fail. I actually think the flip side of Schadenfreude is a very positive and ambitious desire that we all share that we could actually be that famous person (or some famous person). At one point or another, we all dream that we could be celebrity good looking and go out to clubs every evening, drive Bentley’s, carry Hermes Birkin bags and play shortstop in the majors.

The starting point of Schadenfreude is thus a vicarious delight in the glam lives of the rich and famous (we aspire to be them). However, once reality closes in and we realize that neither Dr. McDreamy nor Kathryn Heigl will be joining us for a nice glass of Chardonnay this Friday night, all we want to do is tear those celebrities down. Schadenfreude back with a vengeance.

The success of so many media franchises today is based on Schadenfreude. Gawker.com (and many of its “sister” sites, most notably Jezebel.com and ValleyWag.com) is all Schadenfreude, all the time. Ditto TMZ, Drudge, the Smoking Gun, the Post’s Page Six, most of the broadcast and cable celebrity shows. The list goes endlessly on. It is that mix of aspiration and Schadenfreude that drives a big part of what seems like a majority of our popular culture.

What does all of this mean for marketing? Well, marketing is both a reflection, and sometimes a driver, of culture. As such, Schadenfreude is well represented in many forms of consumer and business to business marketing. It is easy to recall the number of consumer ads and marketing ideas that celebrate the pratfalls and little misfortunes of the human existence (e.g., just about every beer ad in existence). And in the business marketing category, Schadenfreude reigns supreme as the driving meme. Who doesn’t like seeing your colleague or competitor company slip up — or go down in flames altogether. It’s all about Schadenfreude.

I have frequently said that aspiration is at the core of marketing and branding (people always aspire to be something better and marketers smartly look to tap into that desire to position and sell their own products and services). This aspirational spirit certainly helps to balance the cynical Schadenfreude marketing strategies that are so commonly used. The guy in the Bud spot may make a total fool of himself, but you love him for it anyway (and secretly wouldn’t mind being him because he ultimately gets the Bud and the girl).

In a world challenged by a shaky economy, ongoing wars, mortgage defaults, terrorism, global warming, skyrocketing gas prices and other similar ills, one wonders if Schadenfreude will become even stronger and more pervasive in media and marketing, or lose steam. I am guessing that in these stressful times, people will gravitate to the things that they know will reliably offer guilty pleasure and escape from a reality that is increasingly more grim than glorious. So, even as they aspire to better times and new horizons — and the dream of sharing Cosmos with the “Sex and the City” gals or beers with the NY Yankees’ infield –consumers will continue to find delight in Schadenfreude.

Bonnie Fuller wouldn’t have it any other way.

Update: Reading (and thoroughly enjoying) this story from today’s NY Times on Google is the very definition of Schadenfreude. Read it and see what I mean!

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