Why does the Pass It On ad campaign exist?

It was bad enough when they just had generic virtue-extolling billboards distributed liberally along highways in the greater Midwest. Hell, there were even times when I was even glad to see one of those stupid things just because it would reassure me that I wasn't just trapped in some Groundhog-Day-esque loop of the same central Pennsylvanian section of I-76.

It got a little worse when they moved to the bus stops and subways in New York. (In fact, the "Nola Ochs, Age 91, World's Oldest College Graduate" one irks me to this day, since that patently does not mean what they intend it to mean.) Now it looks like the masterminds running the operation have decided that ambushing random passers- and drivers-by is insufficient and have purchased TV time so they can blast you with sanctimony from both barrels as you sit unsuspecting on your couch.

I find these commercials totally mystifying. They are of a drastically inferior video quality compared to anything else on TV, and something about them just seems dated, like someone unearthed a time capsule from the early 90's filled with middle school educational videos. And the content of that ads is even more off-putting than that of the print versions. The print versions stick with pretty indisputable sentiments like "Einstein was smart!", "Nuns are good people!" and "Pushing a handicapped child in a marathon is good exercise!" But the TV ad shows a kid being asked for an answer on a test by his friend and then passing his pal a note, which the teacher intercepts only to find that it says, "Let's not cheat :-)". Nuns and nuclear physicists are perfectly fine, but this kid? This kid richly deserves every wedgie, swirly and wet willie which his peers will be visiting upon him the second the teacher's back is turned.

While the world may need more virtuous people, it certainly does not need more self-righteous goodys-two-shoes*. I mean, Harvard can only admit so many people**.

* I have no idea how one pluralizes "goody-two-shoes."
** Maybe Yale would be more appropriate here, but I just used them as a punchline a couple days ago.