hmm, idk, again in the "guys like girls who" example. it's targeting people with bad self image and telling them they're fine the way they are. if you hate that then you're being way too of a purist on your "clickbait" stance

Like 50% of the self help industry is showing people that they're actually the problem in their lives. You'll never get a person like that to read a book called "actually you're the problem" but frame it in a way that they agree with, "surrounded by idiots", and then set up some scenarios, but break them down to show why the other people actually aren't idiots, and it's the "surrounded" person's issues showing through... Well, they may stick around long enough to learn something.

Not necessarily. We live in a capitalist distopia where it doesn't matter how good you are at what you do or what you sell. You won't sell shit if you can't market yourself. The opposite also applies.