Would doing something like this be considered bad practice? If so, what would be a better way to go about this?

Yes if your site can use the extensibility API. You should use addToViewContextDefinition() instead (https://system.netsuite.com/help/helpcenter/en_US/APIs/SuiteCommerce/Extensibility/Frontend/Layout.html#addToViewContextDefinition)

Got it. Thank you!