Evolution: The most lavish marketing campaign in history

 

A critical analysis of evolutionary theory as a cultural worldview maintained through institutional monopolies, educational indoctrination, and totalitarian marketing strategies.

 

17 February 2026

By  Royal Truman

Reprinted from Creation Ministries International

 

Evolutionary theory holds that chemicals self-organized into a primitive replicator.1 This developed over millions of years into a complex DNA-based common ancestor from which all known life, extant or extinct, descended2,3,4

Beginning in the late 19th century, many thinkers applied Darwinian concepts to human society (‘Social Darwinism’).5,6,7 In the 20th century, evolution became increasingly linked—through exhibitions, museums, media, and education—to narratives of scientific progress and human advancement.8,9,10 It was simultaneously being used to argue against the existence of a creator.11,12,13,14

Today, evolution dominates mass media and academia so thoroughly that advocates routinely make outlandish claims with impunity. Richard Dawkins famously wrote,

“It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).”15

Writing in this distinctive literature genre, Jerry Coyne confidently added,

“To me, anyone who doubts the truth of evolution is either ignorant of the evidence, hasn’t understood it, or is in the grip of a religious ideology that simply won’t allow acceptance of the facts.”16

Richard Dawkins and Jerry Coyne

Lesser luminaries continually flood social media and popular science communication with similar claims.

Worldviews can be very persuasive

A worldview (Weltanschauung) moulds how individuals perceive the world and can motivate extreme personal sacrifice. Historical examples include Nazism, Communism, Secular Humanism, Islam, and Christianity. Arguably, atheistic evolution is the dominant contemporary worldview. How did it achieve such cultural hegemony?

Jeanson has noted the strong correlation between acceptance of evolution and the course material students learn at college.17

Bliss expresses the issue bluntly:

“In recent years our youth have been overwhelmed with a sea of evolutionary propaganda. Sadly, the objective seems to be to program their young minds toward evolution only.”18

Truman drew attention to how valid scientific principles also used by creation scientists have been misappropriated as evidence of evolution.19

Here we propose an additional perspective: evolution’s dominance reflects an unparalleled marketing effort.

Persuasion through marketing, advertising, and branding

More than $1 trillion is spent annually on advertising and marketing to influence perception, decision-making, and behaviour.20,21 Deep expertise in human psychology is applied, appealing to emotions in mostly indirect ways.22,23,24,25,26 Some campaigns illustrate the scale:

  • Citibank’s Live Richly (2001–2006): ~$1 billion27

  • The Pepsi Challenge (1975–present): $100s of millions28

  • Nivea Sun educational campaigns: $10s of millions annually29

Expertly designed visual and auditory elements are used to provide a contextual stage (mise-en-scène) to manipulate mood and create subliminal associations. Examples are apparent in Louis Vuitton’s LV Dream (2022), Amazon’s The Glow (2023), and Nike’s Dream Crazier (2019), and countless others.30

old postcard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Nazi Weltanschauung was marketed with elaborate rallies designed by Albert Speer and filmed elaborately by Leni Riefenstahl. Plays called Thingspiele were performed at dozens of open-air amphitheaters to evoke a romanticized Celtic and Germanic past, designed to create a quasi-religious, communal experience.

Communist regimes likewise used mass pageantry to market their Weltanschauung using futurist, industrial, and militaristic themes. The Soviet Union organized mass physical events involving tens of thousands of participants performing synchronized calisthenics.

Often the true cost of a branding or marketing campaign is far greater than realized. The monumental Olympic complex and choreography designed by Werner March for the 1936 Olympic games was intended to associate the grandeur of ancient Greece and Rome with the Third Reich. Unwittingly, other countries helped finance the campaign, by training athletes, travelling to the event, and reading about it in newspapers. As another example, Communist International Workers’ Day parades involved millions of compulsory participants.

Indoctrination in evolution through totalitarian marketing

Marketing a Weltanschauung becomes far more effective when supported by censorship, surveillance, and suppression of alternatives—requiring hidden costs often greater than the visible ones. Examples include the evolutionary idea of ‘junk DNA’, which impeded the progress of genetic science for some 30 years.

Also, the horrific social and human costs of the increasingly discredited idea that humans have many useless ‘vestigial’ organs. In addition to the way this removed incentives to look for their function, when such organs were actually removed for no good reason in years past it caused a great deal of unnecessary suffering.

1936 Summer Olympics Games, Berlin

The greatest ‘return on investment’ occurs when competition is eliminated and existing infrastructure can be repurposed without cost. This is the situation with the evolution Weltanschauung.

In the United States, teaching evolution as scientific fact is effectively mandatory. The legal basis includes:

  • Edwards v. Aguillard (1987), restricting alternatives to evolution in public schools

  • The No Child Left Behind Act (2001), reinforcing federal education standards

  • Kitzmiller v. Dover (2005), prohibiting the teaching of Intelligent Design

Furthermore, every US state has adopted standards aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (2013), mandating evolution instruction with no alternative permitted. Equivalent requirements now exist worldwide.

Because evolution enjoys an uncontested monopoly in public education and scientific institutions, it is not necessary to invest in elaborate mise-en-scènes. Existing infrastructures—publicly funded and universally accessible—serve as global, prestigious, and self-reinforcing branding platforms. Examples include:

  • Zoo signage and exhibits

  • Interpretive materials at national parks

  • Educational textbooks, lectures, and curricula

  • Media and entertainment, including science fiction, video games, infographics, and memes (e.g. ‘then vs. now’ comparisons)

  • Newspapers and even women’s magazines (men are unfaithful because of their ape ancestry?)

  • Commercial marketing language (e.g., a product line ‘evolves’)

  • Documentaries in biology, geology, astronomy, and so on.

  • Professional scientific publications

Virtually all biology journals are replete with formulaic phrases such as, ‘through evolutionary processes’, ‘in the course of evolution’, and ‘due to selective pressures’. These add no explanatory value and could be removed without altering the substance of the work.

Conclusion

The global saturation of the message that ‘evolution is a scientific fact’ may represent the most extensive—and most expensive—marketing campaign in history once all direct and indirect costs are considered. The primary beneficiaries are the leading advocates of the evolutionary worldview who now hold influential positions in universities, museums, and research institutions.

References and Notes

  1. Adamski, P. et al., From self-replication to replicator systems en route to de novo life, Nat Rev Chem. 4(8):386–403, 2020.

  2. Moody, E.R.R. et al., The nature of the last universal common ancestor and its impact on the early Earth system, Nat Ecol Evol 8:1654–1666, 2024.

  3. Koonin, E.V. and Wolf, Y.I., The common ancestry of life, Biol Direct 5:64, 2010.

  4. Weiss, M.C. et al., The last universal common ancestor between ancient Earth chemistry and the onset of genetics PLoS Genet. 14(8):e1007518, 2018.

  5. Badertscher, K., Social Darwinism, in: 1914–1918-online, International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Daniel, U. et al. (Eds.), issued by Freie Universität Berlin, 2020.

  6. Hodgson, G.M., Darwin’s Conjecture: The search for general principles of social and economic evolution, University of Chicago Press, 2010.

  7. Claeys, G., Social Darwinism. In: Claeys G (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Nineteenth-Century Thought, Cambridge Companions to Literature, Cambridge University Press, pp.163–183, 2019.

  8. Hofstadter, R., Social Darwinism in American Thought, Beacon Press, Boston, 1955.

  9. Browne, J., Charles Darwin: The Power of Place, Princeton University Press, 2002.

  10. Bowler, P.J., The Non‑Darwinian Revolution, Johns Hopkins, 1988.

  11. Huxley, J.S. (Author), Massimo Pigliucci (Foreword), Gerd B. Muller (Foreword), Evolution, The Definitive Edition: The Modern Synthesis, MIT Press, 2009.

  12. Dawkins, R., The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design, Penguin Books, 2006.

  13. Dennett, D.C., Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life: Evolution and the Meaning of Life Paperback, Penguin, 2007.

  14. Mayr, E., What Evolution Is, Basic Books, 2001.

  15. Dawkins, R., Review of Blueprints: Solving the Mystery of Evolution by Maitland A. Edey and Donald C. Johanson, National Review 21 Apr, p. 31, 1989.

  16. Coyne, J.A., Why Evolution Is True, Viking, New York, p. 23, 2009.

  17. Jeanson, N., The Real Reason Why 99% of Scientists REJECT Biblical Creation, you.tu.be/ZxYS02S8Bs4

  18. Bliss, R., A Failed Attempt at Student Brainwashing, Impact, Saturday, September 1, 1990.

  19. Truman, R., Why do so many biologists believe in evolution?, Creation Research Society Quarterly 62(1):54–58, 2025. Also on researchgate.net.au. See also creation.com/answering-evolutionary-proofs, and creation.com/how-to-think.

  20. Advertising—Worldwide, statista.com/outlook/amo/advertising/worldwide.

  21. Worldwide Ad Spending Forecast 2025, emarketer.com/content/worldwide-ad-spending-forecast-2025.

  22. Kotler, P. and Keller, K.L., Marketing Management, Pearson, 2021.

  23. Basic Marketing: A global-managerial approach, McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., 2004.

  24. Ries, A., Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, McGraw Hill, 2000.

  25. Derda, I., Advertising as a Creative Industry: Regime of Paradoxes, Routledge, 2024.

  26. Ogilvy, D., Ogilvy on Advertising, Carlton Books, 2007.

  27. Kates, S.M., The dynamics of brand recognition in the financial services industry, International Journal of Bank Marketing, 22(5):332–349, 2004.

  28. Greising, D., I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke: The life and times of the world’s most celebrated soft drink, John Wiley & Sons, 1998.

  29. Jiggins, S., and Bares, J., Nivea Sun campaign by FCB Inferno educates and entertains on sun safety, Campaigns of the World, 2019.

  30. Other examples include Apple’s The Underdogs (2019, Mac Pro Launch); Gucci’s Gucci Cosmogonie (2022); Chanel’s Le Lift (2023); Samsung’s The New Normal (2020, Galaxy Z Fold2 Launch); etc.

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