I can vividly imagine how that went down. They also wanted to have a piece of the niche market. But instead of producing smell-alikes, it would have taken some courage to create their own style.
I think the marketing completely missed the mark. They aimed for niche, but in my opinion, they've only poorly copied mainstream so far. Well, in the end, it's all a matter of taste, of course.
I really like the design. But if the content is meaningless, it just doesn't work.
People out there aren't stupid.