i mean the theme was "roles reversed" so getting to play as the pipe when in the actual game of flappy bird you're just playing as flappy. so i think the dev did a good job matching the theme.
We've heard the theme complaint a bit, and I kind of agree with it. Like you mentioned (and thanks for that btw!) the "role reversal" was how we first got the idea for the game, BUT I think after that point we kind of let ourselves get swept up in the silliness of the game and didn't really look back.
I'm sure we could have done a better job reinforcing the theme, i.e. our gameplay doesn't reinforce it, but I also stand by the decision to just run with the idea since the 48hr window didn't really let us slow down. Fair criticism, but we hope people have fun regardless since that was our #1 goal :D