It's an extremely well-known "as seen on tv" product in the united States. Check out some of the commercials on YouTube they are hilarious. No clue why it came to mind, tho.
You compared it to shopping cart collection, and I am from the United States, where people are paid at most grocery and big box stores to do that. Nobody is paid to spit liquid into my mouth, which makes shopping cart collection different from a straw.
No, in fact I quite literally in my message acknowledged they were new and didn't have that information. Like, the thing you're asking is actually in my message. Sure, there's also some belittling for flavor, but life is boring if you don't insult people on the internet.