The first example in the article would push me away, but for a different reason: Every site that uses Stockphotography so ovious and in such a huge format is most likely scam of some sort. It's like the blinking banners of old times.
Give me a break.
How many times have you seen, on a support page or whatnot, a picture of a smiling call center guy with a headset? It's probably the most common usage of a stock photo.
But that isn't your support guy, in fact a lot of these places have the founders answering their own phones - so why pretend to be a big company when you are not?
I agree that it's lazy and makes a bad impression for hackers, though I doubt 99% of normal people would notice or care.
I think we are limiting ourselves here in how stock photography can be used.
You're talking about what is the case. He's talking about perception. If your site has any of the same signals of an illegitimate site, then you're in trouble. He has no reason to give you the benefit of the doubt and spend enough time poking around your site to convince him that you're legit.
In other words, if you don't find the idea of your product itself sexy enough, why should I? Then again, I'm not the typical consumer; maybe I just don't fit your demographic. Either way: Next!