Make Them Laugh.

Today's Marketing Cookie discusses the power of humor.

People love to laugh. My most popular tweet, a joke asking, "Has Sarah Palin ever been para-sailin'?" received thousands of retweets, unparalleled by anything else I've shared on Twitter. Companies also harness humor's power, with the funniest commercials often becoming the most beloved during the Super Bowl. This trend extends to television, where the top ten most-watched show finales have all been comedies:

1. M*A*S*H

2. Cheers

3. Seinfeld

4. Friends

5. The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson

6. The Cosby Show

7. All in the Family

8. Family Ties

9. Home Improvement

10. Frasier

I learned about the power of humor at a very young age, a lesson emerging from a traumatic childhood experience that significantly shaped my personality.

At six years old, during a Thanksgiving dinner with my parents' college friends and their children, I found myself the odd one out, without anyone interested in engaging with a hyperactive, seemingly annoying little boy.

After dinner, when the men decided to show off their muscle cars, my mother suggested they take me along. Despite their reluctance, they agreed, referring to me derogatorily as "Slime." Excited, I joined them but soon became a nuisance with my incessant questions, leading them to threaten me with the family dog, an animal I feared.

Refusing to quiet down, I annoyed them to the point where they taped my hands and ankles, put me in a cardboard box, and placed me near the dog house, terrifying me. Instead of crying, I started telling jokes from within the box, including knock-knock jokes and one-liners like "Hey, who turned out the lights?" and "Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?"

Remarkably, they began laughing and eventually released me from the box, proving to me that humor could defuse tense situations and even earn respect.

From that day, making my brothers laugh gave me a newfound influence over them, making my life happier. While today's fortune suggests, "Humor is the best weapon against sarcasm. Laugh at it," I believe humor is an effective tool against nearly anything, capable of liberating your personality in unexpected ways.