I love the kitty kitty meow meows! I think oftentimes people's first instinct is to manhandle them because they don't like/aren't familiar with cats and/or know that a poorly controlled cat can wreak a lot of havoc (and thusly try to control the cat at all costs). I don't really think the scruff first ask questions later approach is the most thoughtful one, though. Most cats I've worked with do amazingly well with a C hold (or a modified version of it where you get a hold on their zygomatic arches rather than under their jaw - I don't know why, but many cats I've worked with seem to prefer this over a regular C hold and as a bonus you get very good control of their head with very little effort and without complaints from the kitty) and very light restraint. The ones who "need" the death grip scruff to even remotely be handle-able are cats that really shouldn't be handled by force alone anyway (and where chemical restraint becomes important both for the welfare of the patient and the safety of the staff).
I think a being able to be creative with towels and having a good working knowledge of making kitty burritos, kitty tacos, and holding kitties like footballs takes you a long way with most kitty kitty meow meows.
Like most things in life, if you have to force it to make it work, then it's probably a bad idea and you're going to break something.