Microsoft Apologizes for Amy Winehouse Tweet

Microsoft has received considerable criticism after a small PR account for Xbox encouraged its Twitter followers to remember the recently deceased singer Amy Winehouse by purchasing her last album on the company's entertainment marketplace, Zune.

After about an hour of retweets with comments like "classy," "crass much?" and "Microsoft - failing at social media," the account tweeted an apology, the Hollywood Reporter said.

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

But Zune wasn't the only downloading service to trying to maximize on Winehouse's death by publicizing her album. Apple's iTunes featured an image of the singer, and Amazon published an obituary that linked to a sales page for "Back to Black."

The album shot to the top of iTunes in the hours following her death, and has re-entered music charts five years after its release.