I think there is a difference, Sacha Cohen (of Borat fame) plays a mega-douchebag but AFAIK he doesn't have a reputation of actually being one.

Their tactic may not be to your liking but they aren't the first to adopt characters as a way to promote their business.

As I said, the critic I have of them is that they're slily indulging in stereotypes and I am surprised they haven't been called out on that.

Sacha does it for a noble cause, comedic effect and makes it obvious that he's not serious. These guys are not trying to be entertaining, they're profiteering through hidden agendas perpetrated on their too-dumb-to-realize-it-audience.