The argument is that Wansink is responding to criticism (like the XKCD) with an air of indifference. Wansink's response to the XKCD is simply one of the example

The argument is that Wansink is responding to criticism (like the XKCD) with an air of indifference. Wansink's response to the XKCD is simply one of the examples; the XKCD itself is not being used to support the author's argument that the act of publishing non-rigorous work is too widespread in quantitative science today.