You make some very good points. Fire starting and the means to obtain shelter, along with water availability, are the key items in survival, and trinkets like fish hooks are way down the list. If I want fish, i won't be angling, but will probably resort to techniques that would otherwise be illegal.

The best kit is one assembled by the user, with due regard for the prevailing conditions. The kit I carry in winter in Arizona mountains differs radically from that carried in the summer in the adjacent desert terrain.

The small "Altoids' kit does have a specialized niche. I carried one when flying to offshore islands in California. It was easy to imagine a scenario where the plane would be down, you would be able to exit the craft, and all you had were the items on your person. You might be in the water, you might be on land, or you might even be in the mountains, if you were dreadfully off course. In that situation, a tiny kit, that doesn't bulk up your profile and impede your exit, makes sense. But, like you,I would include better and more fire making items.

"Marketing gimmicks??" Who ever heard of such a thing??