But it's a false premise. It seems like petting a dog on the way to the vet. The petting just calms the dog down, but has no effect on the inevitability of his

But it's a false premise. It seems like petting a dog on the way to the vet. The petting just calms the dog down, but has no effect on the inevitability of his situation. So what value is a useless and pointless gesture that appears to be a marketing/public relations tactic?