Oh I'm sorry I can't tell the difference between an academic researcher building their career on a political trend and a designer building their career on astrology Tshirts running on facebook birthday data collection ads. Except the latter is a lot less smug and a little more self-aware.
It's not even about being ethical. Just not a sustainable business model. When you offer a little real value on the knowledge or the appeal, normally the career ends when everyone knows it's an easy gig and makes the market oversaturated. And also when the audience gets mad because they find out both the political trend and the data collection are bad for them. Again, none of us can afford too much ethics. But if you really know what you are doing, you find an exit plan before the trend is over.