I think it spawns a bunch of time wasting discourse online, but online discourse has always and will always be time wasting because it will never really affect the offline world.

The thing about shit like this act of protest is that it can spark off discussions between people in real life. Plenty of stuff like this has had some pretty checked out or downright chud people I know ask me about it knowing I'm pretty far left and think it's a gotcha, but has been an opportunity to steer the conversation more towards actual meaningful discussions or at least poking at an individual brainworm they have.

Were there other forms of protest that might have been more effective, maybe, but I think dunking on anyone who cared enough to go out and do something like this is misplaced.

Now if it were something like the group that had a homeless encampment removed so they could hold signs and do nothing, not even catch a news cycle, then I have a different opinion and am much more likely to call that an op because it's getting something the white pmc class wants done under the guise of something good that is ultimately ineffective