Very well might be, I had options for 3 cards and do note I did not have any other HDFC CC before this. 6E, Regalia, and DBC were the options. I chose DCB. And they had also offered me an upgrade to Preferred customer, but that is not yet completely processed.
I got my DCB from HDFC a few days back, I had an offer in my Netbanking portal, I applied and got the card in 48 hours. These RMs absolutely have no idea what is happening, all they want is to make you spend more.
Getting add-on based on SmartEarn is not possible. To upgrade my Amex experience I have applied for Gold Charge, and will apply for an add-on card after I get Gold Charge. I had just confirmed the same with the customer service executive before I applied for the Gold charge.