Generally that was my initial thought. But I'm not convinced now. There seems to be some specific use cases (tor is blocked and bridges aren't working) but outside of that it seems uncertain that increased security or anonymity is gained.

Good write up talking about it generally here that I found informative. And an overview of various ways they might be combined here that isn't quite so negative on adding a vpn.

But I agree with you that framing anything in online security as an absolute either or is a bad idea. It depends on your specific threat model and needs. Which requires a fairly deep understanding. Which sucks since who has time or technical skill enough for that. Not most people. Thus marketing saying "hey this is the one thing you need to be safe."