It’s only popular (afaik) in America as a meat substitute, not because it’s “fruit.” Vegetarians don’t care what part of the fruit it comes from as long as it’s serving its purpose, and I can’t imagine anyone being upset when they find out there’s a sweet part to it too. I guess the word “ploy” just implies, like, a conspiracy or something to me and I can’t imagine who would perpetrate something so banal. Can’t be the jackfruit producers/distributors, they could only benefit from more people knowing more about their product.