I'm sure how you can see the optics of such a situation are less than ideal (to put it nicely).

Scraping the barrel for substance I think.
The word "intellectual dishonesty" is a term associated with analytical appraisals, not marketing identities.
The rest of your post is basically an attempt at a bit of "intellectual dishonesty" of your own in the true sense of the term which amounts to a load of mud slinging in the hope that some of it might stick.
Sorry, but it isn't and the reason it isn't is because your part of a but hurt little cult yourself that's rattling around in a can and running out of toys to throw out of its pram.