I agree to some extent here. I think it's perhaps better in general that employees raise their specific needs very clearly with their employers and if they feel like they are not being listened to then they should start to look to find another offer. If the very first step an employee takes before negotiating for free tea and coffee in the break room is to slap another job offer on the table then I agree it looks bad.
It seems pfp did it right by first making their requirements well known and then putting themselves in a good negotiation position.
i can tell you from my own experience and from a experience when leading a team, if they did get thru the whole process and got another solid offer, what you are buying is usually some time.
from my experience when i got another offer, my then current employer matched and then extended the offer. But when the next offer came one year later i was gone.
When leading the team i got a junior that said he got an offer. I got us that we could match, but we where not in the position then to offer more. And sure enough after one year he was gone.
It seems pfp did it right by first making their requirements well known and then putting themselves in a good negotiation position.