Even if this was the most memed game in the history of video games, what does that have to do with developers and other people in the industry voting for the game? This wasn't a public poll awardAdmittedly that was too dismissive of UGG (mainly because I was feeling like yet again Outer Wilds isn't getting the appreciation it deserves, not even on this very forum), but I'm not sure why people are that mad about it being called that. It was just a silly off-hand comment. The internet was inundated by Goose memes when that game came out. I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure that contributed to its success and the conversation that surrounds it to a certain degree. I doubt people were all "man I sure in the mood for a carefully crafted stealth/puzzle game." If people called something like Undertale a meme game (and it's been called that plenty of times) I would be indifferent to it despite loving that game.
And there was a lot of articles and videos and appreciation for the game due to its happy charming cathartic escapism and its clever design.