So why the hell am I still mining this? IDK

Maybe FOX is so much cuter than DOGE

I share this thought!
Well Fox is young. It will drastically change when several exchange plateforms will accept it.
The guy from Poloniex seems doing lot of effort, but this plateform is not famous (yet?)
Fox is dying? No buzz, no giveaways...
I'm not sure we can valuate the vitality of a coin on giveaways

Just let fox growing up, it's a new born dependent currently to its creators. So yes, as you said, they have to maintain the buzz. For what I see, they are working actively in that way.