A Twitter message from a UK-based Microsoft Xbox 360 PR rep about the death of pop singer Amy Winehouse this weekend caused a bit of a protest from some Internet users. As Mashable reports, the @tweetbox360 Twitter page posted up a note on Sunday with the message, "Remember Amy Winehouse by downloading the ground-breaking "Back to Black" over at Zune:social.zune.net/album/Amy-Wine...". The overwhelming response to this message was negative as followers felt that Microsoft was trying to make money off the death of the 27 year old pop singer.
The original tweet is still available but now the Twitter page now has posted a couple of responses. One states, "Apologies to everyone if our earlier Amy Winehouse ‘download’ tweet seemed purely commercially motivated. Far from the case, we assure you." The other states, "With Amy W’s passing, the world has lost a huge talent. Our thoughts are with Amy"s family and friends at this very sad time."
Oddly enough, Apple has also done something similar on its iTunes store. It has a "Remembering Amy Winehouse" logo and links to her work including "Back to Black". The 2006 album, which featured her best known song "Rebab", was the winner of five Grammy Awards in 2007. The Guardian web site also notes that sales of her albums have surged up 37 times following the news of her death. Winehouse was found dead on Saturday in her London home. As the BBC reports, a preliminary autopsy conducted today has not yet determined the cause of Winehouse"s death.