[thomasmallen]

Unlikely. Those Seinfeld ads didn't actually try to sell anything. A bit of overpriced, mild brand reinforcement most likely would not have affected the company's short-term prospects.

By the way, what M$ is doing here is very screwed up. They're laying off the first batch (1400) immediately, but using the remaining 3600 as a threat to make competition cutthroat. I might just quit if I worked there.

[Andys]

Wow, that is really sad and not something I would have expected from MS.

[mattmaroon]

It's also probably not true. It may happen, but there's no evidence it was intended that way. Layoffs are often done slowly in tranches.