If this was a publisher I'd never heard of, I would agree with you 100%. Without more information, it's best to assume no malice. If a lot of other people did the same thing, it would be a tribute, not an insult.
But we know a lot about NuTSR and Justin LaNasa. LaNasa is the guy who decided to "call out" ENWorld as being "full of [excrement]" during an interview. He's the guy that screams "You know nothing!" at people on his indiegogo campaign. He's the guy who told Tim Kask to "Go suck Lukes/ wotc / [anatomy] you [expletive] coward." I am happy to provide sources, and more, if needed. But I think it's pretty clear he's not the kind of guy that does "tongue-in-cheek". It's not a style I've ever seen him use since he started NuTSR.
Also related, the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum once made a post that said "Will what we create be racist, religionist, preffist, age-ist? Probably not". I can't help but focus on that word "probably".