Even though I have had to explain the benefits of a PMP in an interview, because they did not always know what it was (other than three letters), I have found the explanation got a very positive reaction from the person interviewing as to most people project management means "can keep track of a to do list". Explaining there are actual techniques for risk, schedule creation and adherence, monitoring progress etc. opens a lot of eyes.
I do worry about things like the above post continuing to water down the credential, just like happened with the MCSE. When people are just getting it to check a box, not to actually be better at their job you get a lot of people who can pass a test and cannot project manage themselves out of a paper bag. Similar to when I hired an MCSE who could not build a server and ended up crashing our entire network because of configuration changes they made.