From the article:
A quick google image search of Jonathan Blow’s Braid can not only reveal that the indie darling also uses green pipes, but also uses analogues, very obvious references, to Mario’s enemies, mechanics, and story line.
indie darling
What's your point? Braid is a vasly more ambitious concept, with complex puzzles, unusual-yet-intuitive game mechanics, and very elaborate visual design, as opposed to a quickie game like Flappy Bird.
And again, I don't think anyone hates Flappy Bird because it has green pipes, they hate it mainly because it's addictive without really being satisfying.
Ehh....to the extent people are complaining that it looks like Super Mario, they're complaining about infringement upon a Japanese game, so the xenophobia complaint doesn't really hold up. I thought most people hated Flappy Bird because it was difficult, pointless, and so addictive that they had wasted lots of time on it despite the other two flaws.