Really?
If the goal is “let’s keep bumping this thread for a year,” that doesn’t seem any different from post count padding to me. Nothing was being discussed in the thread except the idea of bumping the thread. Yes, if you keep posting to the thread, the thread will stay alive. Surprise. 
I just don’t think this is that big of a deal. I’m sure you can find better stuff to treasure.
We’re volunteer moderators on a message board. If we couldn’t deal with frippery, we’d go insane.