it’s the law.

So what? So what that all scientific data is on one side of an issue? So what if your service is half the price and better? So what if your candidate will govern better or your environmental solution is better than your competitors?

Truth is not marketing (though sometimes marketing with the unvarnished truth is a great story), and humans are far more likely to engage and embrace and believe marketing than they are to believe the truth. Check out this article from today’s Washington Post: Bush Remarks On ‘Intelligent Design’ Theory Fuel Debate.

This is brilliant story telling in that it resonates with what a lot of people want to hear. It fits their worldview. It allays their fear of the unknown and resolves internal conflicts.

Of course it’s not "true." Of course it’s not "science." That doesn’t mean the idea isn’t popular and it doesn’t mean the idea won’t spread.

The brilliance of the story is that by asserting that there’s a debate over something, you create that debate! Say it often enough and stick with it long enough, and in fact you create a debate that wasn’t there before.

Please don’t misunderstand me. This is not a post about the origin of life. I really don’t want to hear from anyone on this topic. The thing we need to learn as marketers and consumers of ideas is this: this is marketing writ large. This is about telling stories, setting agendas and changing the way people feel. It has nothing to do with facts.