Palpable Desperation in Norton's Renewal Reminders

Is it just me, or are Symantec in some kind of financial crisis? This year the renewal reminder messages in Norton Internet Security have absolutely reeked of desperation.

2-3 months ago they were along the lines of 'quick, no time to lose, renew now' without telling you there were still 80-90 days to go.

Recently the number of days has kicked in, along with warnings about what might happen to you if you don't renew (reminiscent of the protection-racket style 'insurance' of the 70s - wouldn't it be a shame if something happened to it?).

Then today, with one day to go, they have introduced the headline 'defeat the queues of hackers waiting to destroy your computer' with an actual graphic of a large queue of people.

So what I'd like to know is: how much resource did Symantec put into this crap that could have been used to improve that actual product instead?

Luckily for you, Symantec, I already bought my new copy of NIS a few months ago just before all these messages started.

But next year, I think a review of my security product requirements is definitely in order.