If I share the OP's objections, which I think I do, the problem isn't with the joke attempt itself, it's with the execution. The joke isn't tied in to the content at all, it's literally just the title, and nothing else.
If the author had tied song references into the text, for example, that would make it a much better execution.
Agree, this is definitely Penguin of Doom level humor. But the mechanic is the same as most comedy - the tickle of surprise from two ideas coming together.
The essence of humor is simply surprise. Once the surprise is gone, or if it never was surprising, it seems flat or silly.
Some people enjoy humor with deeper meaning, and explaining that meaning might be illuminating. But that’s lipstick on a duck.