The reason why you get this kind of behavior from advanced degree programs is (you probably guessed it) rankings.

When "acceptance rate" is one of the factors in your ability to inch up those of so precious rankings, marketing yourself to applicants in this fashion suddenly makes sense. Sure, you'd like the best, most qualified applicants to matriculate. But more immediately, you have a need to inflate the number of applicants to your school, keep the number of seats constant, and make your program look "more competitive" to get into.

IMO this kind of short cutting may work in the short term, but erodes the quality of the student body in the long run.

Whenever you see "has been investing heavily in their marketing efforts" from a graduate program, I take it as a warning sign that something might be cookin' in the kitchen.