That also has been my experience. I've moved three times in five years and every time it's been because I heard about what a team was doing and wanted to join them.
If I am in Gmail, it pops up the menu (but at the bottom, and not where the hamburger is). Chrome pops the menu up. Maps opens the side bar. YouTube pops the menu up. Drive opens the menu.
So it works for some but not for others. Perhaps you could enforce consistency or follow your own guidelines etc.? Go crack the whip.
And I guess they think that the three dot menu is ugly or something.
I'm a new hire, and I've been given the choice of working on one of two teams, neither of which particularly align with my interests.