I don't think that's unintentional either. All my targeted ads lately have been for VPNs, and anecdotally every single one has made a huge deal about the danger

I don't think that's unintentional either. All my targeted ads lately have been for VPNs, and anecdotally every single one has made a huge deal about the dangers of roaming the internet when not "protected" by a VPN. Every single one of my non-tech friends who has asked about security and privacy has had similar misconceptions too.