i do feel like they could just skip the fucking cost for it, i get that they need to cover the food and tshirt and stuff, but also they are a massive corporation that is getting to propagandize to their future workers, so like maybe just eat that cost so it doesn’t leave a dystopian aftertaste?

Put a different way: if a poor family is able to get their kid into this so the kid gets a free meal and a better shot at landing a job, that’s probably the closest they can get to doing something wholesome.