It's not serious! Marlowe/Wilbur knows what he's doing. He likes sparking a response! (Or as Doug would claim, SPARCing a response*).
And we like giving him the business! Hey! I'd by him a Sharp's!
(* - joke stolen from N. Petreley RE that guy from the Nation's Institute for Computing Excellene - N.I.C.E. - what was his name? Jerry Lee Cooper! Ah Jerry Lee, we miss you!