> This might sound bad to some people, but it reminds me of an old vegetarian meat alternative I used to quite like in texture

You're welcome to like it, and everyone is entitled to their opinions, but people don't hate the mcrib because of propaganda - it's because it's low quality pork form pressed into a gross, gristley slab that sort of resembles meat if you squint and don't look too closely.

When I worked there a couple decades ago, it always smelled borderline rancid, but I was never sure if that was the brown sugar sauce they called bbq sauce, or if that was the actual meat I was smelling. I can only imagine how the quality has improved over the years. /s