" I'm curious if other units have tried this kind of punitive response?"
It's not punitive. A pack meeting is not an event put on for the entertainment of dens. It is a gathering of the dens and it is the dens the make it happen, under the leadership if the Cubmaster. Den 1 does the opening flag ceremony, Den 2 does a skit, Den 3 leads a game, Den 4 provides refreshments, etc.