Considering how many people/companies fail so spectacularly at it, why would it be baffling? I also think you underestimate the difficulty in making things "sound as good as possible" that one quality is the basis of the entire marketing and political industries - and a large component of many others. You're basically saying "It's obvious - just be perfect!" - it is not that easy.

All that being said - I'm really not "applauding" Heroku or their actions (which are what matter) I'm waiting to hear what they'll say. In the mean time I thought their messaging (which matters much less) was good.