The original video existed because Xtranormal.com lets you transform a written script into an auto-generated scene with procedurally-puppeted wireframed stock models and text-to-speech voice acting.

Any assertion that the world in which Broccoli Man was created was fundamentally different (in terms of "relying on someone else's framework to do a low-effort meme") from today is nostaglia. In fact, I suspect mbleigh spent more time on making the recreation work than was spent on the original Broccoli Man video.

I think calling it nostalgia is a bit too charitable. I see it more as a delusion.