BY DVDJ MEDIAPAR BRUCE APAR

DVDJ Bruce Apar

It’s not a word you see every day, or even once a year, but it’s a beaut: Schadenfreude (pronounced shaad-en-froyd). Merriam-Webster defines it thusly: “enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others.”

Schadenfreude, for example, is never in short supply during hard-fought political campaigns, especially the quadrennial U.S. Presidential primaries, which start off with a phalanx of contenders who are winnowed by process of defeat down to one candidate. Each candidate’s objective, essential to survival, is to eliminate the competition.

Apparently, Ray and DaViD, the high-def disc twins of bluish extraction who are waging a sibling rivalry that would make Cain and Abel blush, also have reached the conclusion that not only is peaceful co-existence not a viable option, but that the opposition must be humiliated as well as vanquished.

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Email warfare

Maybe it is true that all’s fair in love and war -- and competitive capitalism. What’s unfortunate, though, is that world-class companies should choose to adopt the unsavory campaign ploys the citizenry has come to expect of our elected officials. That’s the sad juncture at which we find the Ultimate Fighting Championship of consumer electronics, 21^st Century Edition.

A few weeks ago, I received the following email blast directed to journalists:

Yep, that’s schadenfreude in full flower. The only apparent purpose of the above advisory to the media is to gloat and cackle: “Ha ha ha. Our unworthy competitors have fallen and we hope they can’t get up.” Except for one dumb oversight: Warner also is committed to distributing its movies in the Blu-ray format, so that part of the nasty note is tantamount to friendly fire.

I’ve deleted the signature of the sender and public relations agency, because that person and his or her company are not the point here. They arguably are doing their job at the client’s behest, but it’s highly unusual – let’s make that virtually unheard of – for a PR firm to send correspondence in behalf of a client without identifying same. Having just watched the reissued DVD of All the President’s Men, this tacky tactic reminded me of the hijinks masterminded by Donald Segretti during Watergate in behalf of the Committee to Re-elect the President (aptly acronymed CREEP). The game plan is to strike a very low blow and stay anonymous.

Sony keynote hits sour note

Did we mention that less than a week before this email was broadcast, a Sony spokesperson, delivering the keynote at a technology conference in Palm Springs held by International Recording Media Association, seized the opportunity to tout Ray and sucker punch DaViD.

It’s egregiously bad form, to say the least, to accept a keynote opportunity and use it as a cudgel against a competitor, which also is invited to the same meeting. It puts the host organization that invited you in a highly awkward, if not embarrassing, position.

There’s evidence that the Sony contingent shepherding the speech and speaker knew full well it was up to something inappropriate. When the folks who invited Sony to present the coveted keynote tried to attend the customary rehearsal, they were denied admission. Instead of acting in a way that befits Sony, it was more like sonny trying to avoid mommy and daddy while up to no good.

Meanwhile back in the other camp’s war room, not to be out-slimed, it apparently was left to an unidentified executive at Universal Studios to protect the honor of DaViD by picking up the gauntlet flung down by Ray and throwing it right back in his face.

Universal strikes back

Judging from the counter-punch, the same rules apply: strike a very low blow and stay anonymous. In this case, instead of an email blast, the weapon of choice was The Hollywood Reporter and a story about the freefall afflicting PlayStation Portable’s flow of UMD movies, causing some jokesters to dub the format WMD. (It sort of makes sense, since UMD movies are nowhere to be found.)

The March 30 story, by my friend Thomas K. Arnold, reported that:

>Universal Studios Home Entertainment has completely stopped producing UMD movies, according to executives who asked not to be identified by name. Said one high-ranking exec: "It's awful. Sales are near zilch. It's another Sony bomb -- like Blu-ray.”<

The missing context there is that Universal is a staunch advocate of HD DVD, so the mystery exec’s remark is disingenuous at best, not to mention baseless. For one, there are a lot more companies behind Blu-ray than just Sony, but never mind that: characterizing it as a “bomb” before it’s even on the market is silly beyond words. Last time we looked, HD DVD also wasn’t on the market, so the only explanation is that this Hollywood suit had a momentary meltdown when he made that intemperate remark.

All we can say to Ray and DaViD is: C’mon, kids, put down the slingshots and spitballs and play nice. Or you’ll be sent to bed without any dinner, and have to write schadenfreude 100 times on the blackboard after school.