3-D Bar Graph "Masterpiece"

I encountered this post on how to turn a "boring" bar graph into a 3-D "masterpiece." What's striking to me is that most of the people commenting actually want to replicate this graph, even though it violates the basic principles of effective statistical graphics, according to Tufte and others. For example, the 3-D effect distorts the information displayed by the "boring" bar graph, making comparisons difficult, and the visualization effects distract from the underlying data as conveyed by the differing heights of the bars. Here's the "masterpiece" in its full glory: