Almost every other laptop manufacturer also does that, at least now-a-days. And it was true when I got my first laptop, a ThinkPad in 2004. Did Apple start the trend, and was it different before that? I am not sure, I could not find enough conclusive pictures of older models.
More broadly, this is the kind of rationalizing which probably come from some irrational hate that the grandparent is talking about.
Also to talk about advertising, it generally works that way. Not just in the first world, but in the third world too.
Let me give you an anecdote. tl;dr: ads targeted towards working class in India had the decor which is not even common among wealthy, it works.
I grew up in India, in a rather wealthy family in a medium-sized city. And I mention that, because with it comes with something which is very uncommon in most of the Western world and even bigger Indian cities. I had an entourage as a kid, the kind that only old money has in US, with a pretty minute fraction of wealth. And I was close with some of my help, been to their homes, parties etc. (May sound weird, but is not that common in that part of the world.) And most ads which specifically target them, project a lifestyle which I have generally not seen even among the wealthy i.e. people who they work for. And yet, instead of shying away from those products and considering them elitist, they embraced them, as opposed to the things that used more down to earth marketing. I have not watched Indian TV for almost a decade, but I doubt that things have changed a lot.
So what's wrong with Apple projecting a slightly more stylish and affluent image. Benz does that too, and so do most startup videos I have seen, irrespective of whether they were made by Adam Lisagor.
Errata: On second thoughts, I am not sure if it was true for the ThinkPad. But the Dells and HPs were like that.