I think you missed the crux of the article. The article is not about manipulating emotions with lies, it's about getting different opinions and perspectives on your product.
His method was a little crass, but I'll bet he wrote it with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek.
By being dishonest. Being offended by that is not being sensitive, it's being normal. It's not at all a great idea; it takes advantage of other peoples emotions with lies. You'd have to be kind of sociopathic to not realize that isn't cool or acceptable to most people.