Microsoft has received negative criticism for a recent Internet Explorer 8 advertisement that has led the software giant to remove the ad from its website.  

In the ad, which also features actor Dean Cain, a husband lets his wife use his laptop, who discovers an internet site in the browsing history so disgusting that she actually vomits.  The husband returns into the room, slips on the pile of vomit, then is actually vomited on several more times while on the floor.

"While much of the feedback to this particular piece of creativity was positive, some of our customers found it offensive, so we have removed it," Microsoft said in a statement.  The company also said the ad was just "tongue-in-cheek" and was designed to promote a bit of "irreverent humor."

The ad, of course, can be found on YouTube, but won't be shown on any of Microsoft's web sites any more, the company said.  Microsoft launched the ad to promote IE8's InPrivate feature that allows IE8 users to erase their browsing history, hiding the fact when they were on the Internet.

Anyone interested in viewing the ad can see it by clicking here.

Even though Microsoft pulled the ad because of the amount of criticism it received, some YouTube users and people who saw the ad on the Microsoft website said the video ad was rather amusing.

Tech companies traditionally attempt to promote their latest products by either poking fun at competing products or using celebrities in ads.  Rather than poke fun at a rival company, Microsoft aimed to create a bit of controversy, but ended up causing a bit too much controversy.

Microsoft will make IE8 available as an update rollup starting on August 25, 2009, and continues to heavily promote the latest version of its internet browser.