[freetrial]

They are devoid of style, uniqueness, and are generally unpleasant to look at. If your brand uses rounded shapes, and disproportionate styling to highlight an abstract, cartoonish brand identity, then they would fit in. But as they are currently used, they stick out like a sore thumb because they often take no cues from the rest of the illustration, color schemes, or branding on the site. Essentially, they are repeating the same mistakes of Clipart from two decades ago.

My suspicion as to why they are prevalent is because they are a cost efficient and low-effort way to achieve human illustrations in media that can be done by entry-level designers. Also, by bearing no semblance to any real human figure, the body-image conscious crowd can't complain about shaming or exclusivity in marketing.