In 1989, Madonna was readying to release her 4th album, Like a Prayer. According to the book, Madonna: An Intimate Biography, the pop star reflected on her 4th album, “It’s about the influence of catholicism on my life and the passion it provokes in me. In these songs, I’m dealing with specific issues that mean a lot to me. They’re about an assimilation of experiences I had in my life and my experiences.”
Pepsi to Feature Madonna in $5 Million Commercial
Three months before the album was set to come out, Pepsi Cola announced they would pay Madonna $5 million to feature the pop star and title track in one of their commercials. The commercial was the debut of the title track and the first single before it was released as a single or a video.
As part of the deal, Pepsi would sponsor her Blonde Ambition Tour. The two-minute Pepsi ad, premiere on Thursday, March 2nd. It was shown in 40 countries and seen by as many as 250 million people.
“…It’s probably going to touch a lot of nerves in a lot of people…” – Madonna
The single and music video was released the following day and were exclusive to MTV for several weeks. Madonna released a statement, celebrating the release of the video and single. “I like the challenge of merging art and commerce.
As far as I’m concerned, making a video is also a commercial but the treatment for the video is a lot more controversial. It’s probably going to touch a lot of nerves in a lot of people and the treatment for the commercial is, I mean it’s a commercial. It’s very very sweet. It’s very sentimental. The Pepsi spot is a great and different way to expose the record. Record companies just don’t have the money to finance that kind of publicity.”
The music video for “Like a Prayer” shows a scantily dressed Madonna dancing amongst burning crosses and being inside a church where she kisses the saint’s statue, which then comes to life. The reaction was almost instantaneous but confusion was the main issue with the event. The public seemed confused, as did Pepsi.
“Like a Prayer” Music Video Banned in Italy
Madonna’s combining of religious symbols with sex obviously outraged some religious groups. Even the Vatican spoke out against the video with Vogue reporting that the Pope called for its banning in Italy.
Some family values groups including the American Family Association called for the video to be pulled, along with a boycott of Pepsi. That’s where the confusion came in. Some people thought the full-length video was part of the Pepsi ad campaign. Pepsi received numerous complaints in the days after the video premiered on MTV.
The groups protesting the video couldn’t stay on message and even the reporting on the reaction was confusing. A spokesperson for Pepsi claimed the company was pulling the ad, “It could be misinterpreted by a lot of people to be offensive”.
A few days later, on March 8, 1989, the LA Times reported that Pepsi stood behind the advertising campaign and had no plans to pull the ad. They interviewed a different Pepsi spokesman who disputed the previous news report that the company was pulling the ad. The spokesman put out a statement that the response to the ad had been “overwhelmingly positive”.
“I’m not saying it’s not offensive. it is offensive but we don’t plan on making a crusade of it.” – Reverend Donald Wildman
In the same article, the Times interviewed the Executive Director of the American Family Association, Reverend Donald Wildman who proclaimed they wouldn’t be boycotting Pepsi. “This video is only one little narrow piece of a big pie,” said Wildman, who had not seen the clip but had read descriptions of its use of religious and sexual images. “I’m not saying it’s not offensive. it is offensive but we don’t plan on making a crusade of it.”
“When you’ve got an ad that confuses people or concerns people, it just makes sense that the ad goes away.” – Pepsi spokesperson
By April 5, 1989, Pepsi pulled the ads and their support of Madonna’s world tour. A spokesperson for the company told the press, “When you’ve got an ad that confuses people or concerns people, it just makes sense that the ad goes away.”
While Pepsi scrapped its campaign, Madonna was able to keep the $5 million she was paid. At the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won the Viewer’s Choice Award. Pepsi sponsored the award show that year and in Madonna’s acceptance speech, she thanked Pepsi for the controversy.
“No matter how you try to get away from it, the sin is within you all the time.” – Madonna
Madonna apple of her faith with Rolling Stone Magazine, “Constantly, I pray. When I’m in trouble or when I’m happy. When I feel any sort of extreme. I pray when I feel so great that I’ll think I need to check in with myself and recognize how good life is. I know that sounds silly but when it seems there’s so much bull around, it’s important to just remind myself of the things I have to be grateful for.
On the other hand, when I’m feeling really bad or sad, I pray to try to reassure myself. It’s all kind of rationalization. I can’t describe the way I pray. It has nothing to do with religion. Once you’re a Catholic, you’re always a Catholic in terms of your feelings of guilt and remorse and whether you’ve sinned or not.
Sometimes I’m racked with guilt when I needn’t be and that to me is left over from my Catholic upbringing because in Catholicism, you are born a sinner and you are a sinner all of your life. No matter how you try to get away from it, the sin is within you all the time.”
In 2017, Kendall Jenner appeared in ads for Pepsi that were quickly pulled after the company was accused of cashing in on anti-police protests. Madonna weighed in on social media, “When you wake up and realize that shit just really doesn’t make sense. #chosen Side note: my Pepsi commercial was pulled 30 years ago because I was kissing a black saint. #ironic”
“Happy birthday to me and controversy.” – Madonna
30 years after the ad aired, Madonna looked back at it on social media, “Thirty years ago today I released Like a Prayer and made a video that caused so much controversy because I kissed a black saint and danced in front of burning crosses. I also made a commercial with Pepsi that was banned because my video was seen as inappropriate. Happy birthday to me and controversy.”
Like this story? Check out Eddie Van Halen’s Final Years
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