It's about getting their foot in the door, so to speak. The Animated toyline looks to have toys for a greater age range of kids, which would hopefully draw them into collecting more of the regular toys. Animated has paralled itself to Beast Wars in a number of ways - it is essentially resetting the demographic target to a lower age, and aim to grow up with them over 3-5 years - releasing more complex toys and more mature storylines. Beast Wars was the same, the early toys were very simplistic and some were even auto-transformers, while the cartoon itself in the first year was very kiddie focused, colourful and almost cutesy.
The Animated Activators aren't aimed at anyone over the age of four, but it 'brainwashes' those under 4s into thinking and talking and demanding Transformers for the next 6-8 years. A bit like Happy Meals and kids parties at McDonalds - they aren't aimed at adults, but they hook in the kiddies with a small meal and toy (with little profit) so that they can reap in a lifetime of sales later when they grow up later and only think of Mcdonalds when wanting fast food.
Try not to think of the Activators as toys that would be of any interest to us collectors, and instead evaluate them for their purpose and target demographic. Compared to Movie Slammers, at least the Activators have articulation and more accurate modes.