The people buying the goods may be happy with the exchange, but it's inauthentic/dishonest. I don't think they'd be as happy buying "Lookalike cheap boardshorts from husk of surf company", as evidenced by the fact that they stop buying that brand and Hurley gets sold by Nike to a brand management company and cuts all their sponsored athletes.

Furthermore, it makes it difficult for genuine participants to cut through the marketing BS. Want to buy a lightweight backpack for some day hikes? Go to Walmart and you'll see rows on rows of "rugged" bags with 'biner accessory clips, "super-strong" zippers and "comfort straps". But don't try to take those up a mountain, you'll end up with gear on the ground.

Informed consumers make capitalism work efficiently. This pattern abuses consumer trust for a temporarily profitable scheme. That's what I'd call a dark pattern.