In a response to an open letter to Sun, Jonathan Schwartz demonstrates how easy it is to make a good offer and have it destroyed by bad marketing:

So, you want to really know why we started out by saying developers could get an Ultra 20, fully loaded with Solaris, and the entirety of our Java developer platform and runtime infrastructure for $29.95/mos - and get the hardware for FREE? And then went ahead and implemented it at $360/yr when you got around to entering a credit card?

Because our internal ERP systems were implemented at a point in time where no one could imagine a Sun product with a monthly price vs. an annual price (and the folks who could fix it were a buried by other priorities). So it's a hack. Please blame me for rushing to market.

Read that second paragraph, and think about how many similar mistakes your firm has made (I can think of a few we've had). People really, really dislike feeling like they've been misled. A lot. Which is why something seemingly trivial like this matters. When we communicate with the market, we have to make sure that we don't accidentally torque it off.