How did Nickelback gain a large fan base despite criticism of their music?

I think it went something like this.

Nickleback! Nickleback!

—

If you were to bet, will Canada bend over to Trump's America demands or remain inflexible until the last day of his Presidency on January 20, 2029? Will America or Canada win this geopolitical arm-wrestling? I'm rooting for America.

Here’s my ranking of Nickleback’s discography. They don’t have a bad album at all. But some are better than others. In last place is their most recent album. I felt it was very uninspired. This track is the best one and that track is pretty good. But the rest of the album doesn’t do much for me…

Nickleback are awesome! My new favourite band! I just got their fourth album. It totally rocks!

(Nickleback? They suck. Who cares…)

Do you think some men have sex with prostitutes because they're too afraid to talk to women? Money does the talking for them.

(Yeah, it was great at first. But I have heard it a bit too much.)

Dude, you heard that new single by that band, Nickleback? It’s awesome! Holy crap! That song is everywhere! It’s so cool!

(It sounds a bit too much like they took what made them popular from the previous album and just did more of that.)

I'm 29. I have wasted 7 years for government exam preparation. What should I do?

Hey, man, that band I told you about, Nickleback? The dropped their sophomore. It’s really good. Check it out.

Hey, have you heard of this new band, Nickleback? Their first album is pretty cool.

Yay! Nickleback!

Tooth fossil analysis upends current theory of prehistoric human evolution - Earth.com

Something like that. Millions of people love them. Millions claim to hate them. The most honest criticism of the music is that it sounds like it’s being written deliberately for a particular market. I haven’t heard anything since around 2002 or so, so I can’t say for myself. They don’t suck as in bad musicians or bad song writers. They just sell millions of albums while other excellent bands struggle. That’s what the real problem is, I think.

(Nickleback sucks! They’re the worst band ever! I can’t stand them. Why do so many people like them? So unoriginal!)

(It really bugs me that such a boring, unoriginal band gets so much attention when there are loads of other way more interesting bands out there.)

Have you ever met someone and something seemed so unusual about them but you couldn't put your finger on what it was?

(Wow! What’s with this band? So many people are going nuts for them? What’s so special about them? They had a decent song or two. But there’s no originality now. They’re just wearing themselves out chasing their own tail.)