I don't see that at all.
Those "Internet Celebs" are to generate interest in the game. TB is VERY well known and when he talks, poeple listen. I dislike the guy, but I know at least that much. Seananners is also a pretty big Youtuber with a big following and LevelCap is a prominent member in the Planetside 2 Community. If you take any time to join in the Reddit, or the Youtube PS2 space, his name will come up. The "War" is mostly just to get new players interested as well as to stir up the existing players and get them wanting to participate more. Kind of like the Horde/Alliance loyalty that you often see with WoW. That Loyalty used to serve as an excellent way for the devs to keep players coming back.
Also.
P2W? no. P2LookSexyinMyGiraffe? sure.
I currently have little over $100 worth of Station Cash, so where's that win stuff? I have all this money, and over 300 Certs atm and I can't think of what to buy, because I'm pretty fine with stock stuff. There might be a few balance issues, but nothing that ruin or even make the game less enjoyable.
Also, the unlock system isn't too bad either, IMO. You can get started into different unlocks that allow for different playstyles very quickly, but to fully unlock something it will take a lot of time. Maybe they could add a few more in-betweens, but that would just add more layers when they could keep it simple. Wanna try c4? Sure! But if you wanna go all out and max c4, then you'll have to work for it.