Companies have attempted positive astro-turfing. The negative counterpart would seem to be easier, since people aften fear the worst, so FUD is an easier sell. This is probably going on all the time. I think it's only effective on marginal products, though. If something's going to succeed, then it makes no difference.
EDIT: I am something of a marginal case, though. I have a 1st generation 8GB iPhone. I keep wishing there was some way for me to have a carrier that's not AT&T, to have pre-paid calls & data, to be on Verizon's excellent network, to not have to deal with unlocking and jailbreaking and iTunes upgrade paranoia, to be able to put in a different SIM when I travel overseas, etc... Right now, I am figuring out a way to get my hands on a Canadian iPhone. The though occurs to me: why don't I just get an Android phone? I already own two perfectly good iOS test platforms.
EDIT: I am something of a marginal case, though. I have a 1st generation 8GB iPhone. I keep wishing there was some way for me to have a carrier that's not AT&T, to have pre-paid calls & data, to be on Verizon's excellent network, to not have to deal with unlocking and jailbreaking and iTunes upgrade paranoia, to be able to put in a different SIM when I travel overseas, etc... Right now, I am figuring out a way to get my hands on a Canadian iPhone. The though occurs to me: why don't I just get an Android phone? I already own two perfectly good iOS test platforms.