Bullshit.
As the other guy said, Morrison went on to win the ECW Championship and really become a main guy on the ECW brand. Due to that, he's one of the brightest young stars in the company.
Santino Marella has gained a significant increase in reactions since his "Honk-A-Meter" stint. Plus, now he's both a comedy act AND a legitimate competitor.
Kofi Kingston came over as just a young talent floating from ECW, but he INSTANTLY changed that by winning the Intercontinental title. Since then, he's actually one of the most over faces on Raw, which surprises me as well.
Morrison was already a multi time tag champion before getting the IC title,a nd that helped him get over.
On top of that, Morrison went on to win the Ecw title because he was put in the match because Benoit died.
If Benoit didn't die, Morrison would have still won it, but probably months later, and when he did eventually win it, it would've been because of his makeover to become Morrison from Johnny Nitro, and get an actual good gimmick, not because he was IC champ a year or two beforehand.
As for Santino, what did the IC title do for him? He's still in the same position on the card he was in before. And the comedy stuff he has done with Phoenix, Golddust, etc, had/had nothing to do with the IC belt. The only thing to do with the IC belt was his Honk-A-Metre (like you said), but like I said, it didn't really help him. He's still in the same spot on the card, and was doing all the same stuff before his IC win (unless you refer to his debut, where he won it as a face)
Like I said though, the IC title is great, and I actually really like it, but you can't deny that it has taken a huge step back the past 2 years, and really means nothing now, other than just being there. It's no longer used to "launch" guys into the main event. In fact, mostly, it's used for guys who were world champs (Punk, jericho, etc) who now are back in the midcard, and just get it thrown at them.
Still a great belt, but like I said, it really needs to be reestablished, and get it's prestige back (because right now, it isn't helping anyone)... if it isn't going to be disbanded (like I think it should), then hopefulyl a Pun vs Regal feud can focus on just good, solid matches, to help restore the belt.