Rather than assure phone owners that the company won't fold up, BlackBerry's Tuesday advertisement in 30 newspapers did the opposite, based on reactions posted in social media sites.

In a tweet, Digital Vision Dubai described the usefulness of BlackBerry phones similar to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Sibongile Mafu said the open letter telling customers that all is well was probably being read by phone owners from a frozen BB. Deep Fried Man said the advert only makes sense if phone owners image the letter's author "crying & swiggling whiskey from the bottle while writing it."

Marketing Magazine commented that the open letter is an indicator of BlackBerry's ongoing brand crisis, while Bibek Debroy dismissed it as a terrible idea.

Those negative reactions comprise the bulk of responses in social media sites to the Canadian firm's attempt to put on a brave front while the Waterloo, Ontario-based company faces its real Waterloo of financial crisis and phones that nobody wants to buy.

Of course, there were also a number of users who appreciated the efforts and BlackBerry "Finally showing some sign of life and positive message," tweeted James Mignano.

Rurapenthe admits to having shifted to Apple's iPhone but added that BlackBerry deserves praise for the well-written and heartfelt open letter.

Other users found the company's citing its debt-free balance sheet and significant cash reserves as an empty boast, prompting Derek Konigsberg to state that the open letter would have been more effect if BlackBerry showed its "new products actually exist," while David Fleming said the advert is proof of the result when companies get obsessed with share price and not its users.