Music video "Evolution", directed by
Dave Meyers, was filmed on June 15, 2007 in
Los Angeles. The music video features
Slipknot drummer
Joey Jordison, although the actual drum tracks were recorded by
Brooks Wackerman. According to the casting call sheet, "Evolution" is "filled with political satire and humor." The production team sought mostly male actors to fill roles such as "hero scientists", religious politicians, doctors, green peace guys, anthropologists, military men, and "government types". Casting interviews were held June 12 and 13, 2007.
Plot In the first part of the music video, fictional
infographics demonstrate that the average human
IQ has been in constant decrease since the 1950s, with this trend predicted to continue in the future, as high-IQ families have an average of 1.5 children while low-IQ families have an average of 5 children. Because of medical advancements and no natural predators, human population increases proportionally as it IQ decreases. Furthermore, the graphics show that the human brain is shrinking to 10% of its original capacity, which is less than a monkey's. The second part shows scientists and politicians gathered in Washington, D.C. for the "Evolution Crisis Summit", where a thesis called "De-Evolution of Man", according to which humans will return to below-ape intelligent levels, is to be debated. After a video showing footage of humans and other
simians in similar activities and positions, a researcher throws a ball to a naked man who fails to catch it and later throws the same ball to a
chimpanzee who successfully catches it, astonishing the attendees, including a Catholic priest who vehemently denounces the De-Evolution thesis. In a last experiment, an assistant offers the chimpanzee a banana and a bunch of dollar bucks. The chimpanzee eventually chooses the banana, which leads the De-Evolution thesis to be rejected.
Viral marketing The domain www.evolutiondevolution.com was set up in promotion of the song. The website is a spoof to promote the "Evolution" music video. It is themed as a documentary publication website and features
Korn acting as "experts" who studied evolution in support of a fake documentary titled ''Devolution: Nature's U-Turn''. Vocalist
Jonathan Davis explained that the band wanted to try a different kind of promotion, and so created the website and several viral promotion trailers.
Theme controversy In response to the fake trailer for ''Devolution: Nature's U-Turn
, Devo member Gerald Casale wrote on www.clubdevo.com: "We denounce this as imposters [sic]'' playing with fire." According to Casale, fans of
Korn thereafter sent him
hate mail. Casale then explained that he would have appreciated if Korn had recognized Devo as pioneers of the concept. Korn vocalist
Jonathan Davis responded, "Korn never claimed to be the first to expose De-Evolution, our hats are off to Devo for that."
Song debut "Evolution" debuted on May 16, 2007 via Los Angeles radio station KROQ and the
Korn Myspace page. During the song's debut, bassist
Reginald Arvizu and guitarist
James Shaffer were present in the radio station's studio. The song premiered live on May 20, 2007 at the KROQ-FM Weenie Roast y Fiesta in
Irvine, California. ==Track listing==