Amy Winehouse Fans Get Apology From Microsoft After Tasteless Tweet

Company is berated after being accused of trying to capitalize on the tradgedy while demand for the singer's songs increases, with her album Back to Black catapulting to No. 1 on iTunes

By Peter Gicas Jul 25, 2011 6:34 PMTags
Amy WinehouseAP Photo/Edmond Terakopian

Following Amy Winehouse's passing, fans fondly remembered the music she gave us. And companies like Microsoft were quick to remind folks where they could get it.

"Remember Amy Winehouse by downloading the ground-breaking 'Back to Black' over at Zune," read a tweet sent from the company's Xbox 360 public relations Twitter account soon after the singer''s death.

Twittter users quickly began to criticize the company with retweets calling it in "appalling taste" and making comments like "PR jackals" and "Microsoft - failing at social media."

So what did the company do in response?

Microsoft immediately responded with yet another tweet.

"Apologies to everyone if our earlier Amy Winehouse 'download' tweet seemed purely commercially motivated. Far from the case, we assure you."

However, Microsoft certainly isn't alone when it comes to capitalizing on Winehouse's death. Both Apple iTunes and Amazon acknowledged the singer on it sites by way of pictures and links to her music, with Back to Black, notes Mashable.com, shooting up to the No. 1 spot at the iTunes store.