You're not wrong about shameless marketing in the form of memes, but whether the intention was a distraction type op or just out of touch marketers trying to recreate the Morbius phenomenom, i dont think we can say. I can also agree that the memes aren't funny at all just like Morbius memes.

The tracking by osmand app doesn't seem to be anything malicious or revealing. Developers, contributors, and users discuss the meaning of the tracking here, which is also referenced in the F-Droid page. After reading some back and forth, the level of privacy or lack of you get from the tracking seems subjective. I personally don't agree with it but its not as nosy as gmaps.

How are magic earth and organic maps any better in respect to privacy or tracking/reporting?