A younger, more naive version of myself believed corporate slogans like, "Don't be evil"

Cynical takes like yours are accurate in the descriptive sense. They are useful for describing and predicting outcomes. Ideals are typically prescriptive. They call us to improve upon what is. The two concepts are not incompatible, but for many they are seemingly contradictory.

People care because they have ideals. Perhaps they confuse the two concepts. Perhaps their expectations are too idealistic.