But like... Pumpkin Spice is a seasonal artificial flavor that is I think annoying to people because it's made its way into everything from marshmallows to crackers to milk.
I don't know if it's like this where you are, but in Scandinavia if you like beer but don't like IPAs, you're shit out of luck for like the last five years at least. It has completely taken over the beer aisles at like 70 % of the offering. As someone who hates that bitter taste with a passion, the fact that it makes the selection of beers that I enjoy so much smaller, means it's akin to how I imagine pumpkin spice taking over in the US during fall, except it isn't just seasonal.
That sucks. It was like that here in the US about 5 years ago with IPAs. Every micro brewery made like 10 IPAs and nothing else. They are still the most prevalent style but there is a noticeable shift toward making lagers or less hoppy ales the past few years and it's been a really nice change.
I hope we'll see that soon as well. I've been mostly into malty, full-bodied varieties, and recently also sour beers and gose. Those have started to appear in stores, but not reliably. It feels like they're testing the waters, and are cycling through brands quickly, so once you find a favorite, it's already gone. Hopefully it'll stabilize with a decent selection of all types.
They're both popular, and something that you can just not buy if you don't like them, but people like to complain about because they see the popular thing around, and it bothers them.
Also, pumpkin spice doesn't have to be artificial. It's just the spices found in pumpkin pie. It's usually just cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and ginger.
It can be artificial, but it's like complaining that "apple" is a seasonal artificial flavor.
I have a feeling this might be some regional american thing or something, but I'm from an alcoholic country so I probably wouldn't know either way. People drink fucking hand sanitizer over here.