That’s right, it is tongue-in-cheek, and a stereotypical way of doing so.
I read as dumb. It doesn't give any value to the piece, very akin to virtue signaling.
I don't really think it's virtue signaling. "Virtue signaling" is itself an extremely tired cliche/accusation. To me it feels more like stock "relatability signaling", which gives me a similarly unctuous feeling. Kind of the nerd-corporatespeak version of "hello, fellow kids".