People in these forums generally have done more research on personal finance than the average consumer. We're also more inclined to question everything in the name of efficiency. We probably hear those pitches and think, "Hmm... a $600 up front bonus for choosing this investment? What's the catch, how much are you charging me on the back end to make up for that, and how can I do it even more efficiently?" The problem is that there are people who don't have the "question everything" mindset and probably don't read about personal finance for fun.
I could see where a lot of people blindly trusted their broker. Imagine a less financially savvy consumer being told "oh you'll make a lot more in this investment than your pension, be able to spend more money, be able to leave money to your kids!" Despite the overly impressive claims, they'd probably trust this person especially if their good friend referred this person over. The pension documents and information available through work aren't always easy to understand, since most of them are written in legalese (coming from someone who may work at one of the companies mentioned). Someone who focused their sales on one company could probably explain the pension plan well enough that the average consumer would trust their knowledge and advice. I have gotten calls from professionals offering this advice while I was at work. Even when they say they do not work for the company, they make it easy to assume they were officially approved/sanctioned/etc.
A non publicly traded REIT isn't something I would consider low risk but I'm a low cost index fund fan myself. One person said she told the broker that she didn't want anything aggressive and she still was encouraged into these investments. Fiduciary duty is a big deal. Was it unethical, legally actionable, just bad advice, or good advice but a bad market? I'm not sure but it probably also depends on each individual case.