"Brick" Roller. What Other lies are we meant to believe?

some of those brick patterns are obviously for aesthetic, but you can usually tell when it's real

The uniform irregularity in the "bricks" would drive me mental.

Imitations exist in most everything to one degree or another. But there is something to be considered. Beyond cost there are often practical reasons one might not want a “real” or “original.” In construction and decoration things like brick instead of this, cobble stones instead of pavers, or pavers instead of a printing process like this, hardwood instead of veneer or hardiwood (polymer “fake wood”) even marble or granite versus fake marble or granite and more- all have traded in addition to cost. There are social and environmental factors to material selection as well as safety, structural, or maintenance concerns. For instance- in many climates wood won’t hold up to age as well as hardiwood, which is safer in use around people than treated wood as well. In earthquake or hurricane prone areas brick can be unsafe and unstable, and this may be preferable. Engineered materials and methods like this can also be used in places or configurations that the “standard” versions could not.

So you put a layer of cement on a brick wall then you make a brick pattern on the cement layer?