Brand Evangelism: Consuming Our Way to Meaning?

In today’s extremely online world, we see branding going beyond just selling products. From tech giants to entertainment companies, corporations are deploying “brand evangelism” to create devoted followings with cultish loyalty.

This phenomenon has turned product consumption into a substitute for deeper, more meaningful pursuits—and for many fans, it’s become a pseudo-religion.

Corporations have mastered this technique by transforming consumers into die-hard fans who spread the word of their favorite brands as if they were gospel. This shift has dangerous implications. Rather than encouraging the virtue of true religion, self-discovery, or even healthy consumer choices, these brands are offering an easy and addictive stand-in for deeper purpose in life. And like any addiction, the pursuit of more: more products, more entertainment, more content, can leave us feeling hollow.

Related: A Tale of Two Cults

Because brand evangelism is deliberate emotional and psychological manipulation. Consider how major entertainment franchises build not just a fan base, but a belief system. They tell us that their stories are more than just entertainment; they are lifestyles. Owning a product, participating in an event, or watching a show becomes part of an identity.

It becomes a ritual.

Yet, this allegiance to brands and products often comes at a price. Just as an addict reaches for the next fix, fans of corporate entertainment intellectual properties are pushed to consume more in an endless cycle of anticipation and purchase. Whether it’s the latest film in a franchise or the hottest gadget from a tech company, there’s a constant pressure to stay in the loop by owning the next big thing, experiencing the next event, or showing off brand loyalty.

And the implications of such pop cultery are far more insidious than just wasting time and money.

The danger of this trend lies in how it subtly covers up a lack of meaning with a never-ending cycle of consumption. True meaning and fulfillment can only come from a relationship with the divine source of all meaning. But mass consumerism presents an attractive yet ultimately shallow alternative.

Corporations have become experts at delivering quick, temporary highs: the excitement of a new release, the joy of a purchase, or the sense of belonging to the in-group. Yet these experiences are fleeting, and the consoomer’s underlying hunger for purpose remains unsatisfied. The more people invest in corporate brands, the more they distance themselves from the source of deeper meaning. This creates a dependency on the next hit of entertainment or product.

Just as an addiction becomes more powerful the longer it goes unchecked, the same happens with brand loyalty and consumerism. The act of consumption becomes a coping mechanism for lack of purpose. In the Pop Cult, where every purchase feels like part of a larger, meaningful Narrative, validation comes cheap and easy. But as with any addiction, it’s just a fleeting distraction from a deeper deprivation. Mass consumerism, driven by corporate IP, conditions fans to substitute the long-term pursuit of real meaning with short-term gratification. It turns consumption into a prefabricated identity. And it keeps the Pop Cultists from confronting the void they are trying to fill.

And these effects, too, are by design.

A 1967 University of Pittsburgh study tried to predict socioeconomic conditions in the year 2001. Participants included Isaac Asimov and R. Buckminster Fuller, who made a number of relevant and chilling pronouncements here:

The key takeaways from the study for our purposes are:

1. Populations in the global south will boom
2. Ever-increasing automation will combine with the above trend to produce a massive unemployable class (“insiginficant people”)
3. The only answer is for governments and corporations to give the vast “useless class” the only meaning left to them: as permanent customers

How can permanently jobless masses remain consumers? “Easy,” say our secular elites. “When you control the money supply, you can just keep the printers running, because ‘Line always goes up!'”

That’s not wild speculation on my part. Here’s World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab’s top guy echoing the 1967 eggheads 50 years later:

Nor are these elite bugmen just passively predicting developments they’d rather stop but think are inevitable. The subtext is that they want most of humanity reduced to aimless consumers that depend on the controllers of the money spigot for meaning. Because the bugmen are certian they they will be those elites.

That’s why these self-styled geniuses have to deny free will even as they try to convince you of their vision. Because if you think you have the free choice to not consume product, you might take it.

And then their power is gone.

Does that mean the big entertainment monopolies are using brand evangelism to create purposeless consumers as part of some grand design a half-century in the making? Not necessarily. But it does mean that fans of corporate IP should be cautious about how deeply they invest in these brands.

There is nothing inherently wrong with enjoying a well-crafted film, reading a book honestly written to entertain, or playing a game whose devs understand that games exist to bring fun. But when that enjoyment curdles into a substitute for meaning, it can become a stumbling block.

Because true fulfillment doesn’t come from what we consume. Our true end is eternal life with God, not consuming product until death. Instead of seeking validation in the next Hollywood blockbuster or Big Tech product release, we must ask ourselves what truly matters.

Remember: Brand evangelism isn’t just about building loyalty to a product; it’s about creating dependency that distracts from real life. Breaking this cycle means recognizing that we don’t need more stuff to find purpose. Heed Tyler Durden’s warning. Take care that what you own doesn’t end up owning you.

In this decadent age when corporations and governments strive to be the source of our meaning, fulfillment, and even identity, it’s vital to remember that true meaning can never be bought.

What you can buy is honest indie fiction that entertains while affirming the higher source of meaning. Like my new fantasy novel Lord of Fate, now funding on Kickstarter.

With our first three goals unlocked, we’re closing in on our next Stretch Goal: the Lord of Fate deluxe edition with alternate hardcover by the incredible Marcelo Orsi Blanco

Unlock the alternate hardcover–and the Burned Book audio version!

So help us hit our current $5K benchmark. Back Lord of Fate now!