Ooh, Pilot Frixion, I like those. I did not expect myself to ever be able to get excited about pens, yet here I am.
I love lending out Frixion Clickers out to my DnD friends and seeing them struggle with the click before they realise that the pocket clip is the thing that goes click.
The other day, my parents and I were checking out some conspiratorial pamphlet that was shoved into our mailbox, that claimed "mEdIcInE uSe Is ThE #3 gReAtEsT kIlLeR!!1" and we collectively went "#2 is water drinking and #1 is oxygen inhalation."
I also heard a claim that such patterns can (marginally) discourage graffiti of the seats. And if branding is a thing you care about, they can reflect some parts of that. London S-Stock trains' seats point to the lines where they run, and there have been Danish trains that straight up feature the old DSB logo in the seat pattern.
Most articles from the 2020s, just about, but one from 1959, and it seems to talk about the same stuff as OP's screenshot.
My dear posters, I think this may be the source.