On This Day: March 2 1989 Madonna’s Controversial Like a Prayer Pepsi Commercial Aired

On this day March 2 1989 Madonna’s highly anticipated Pepsi commercial featuring her new song Like a Prayer aired on television. The commercial was part of a major promotional deal between Madonna and Pepsi making her the face of the brand while debuting the song before its official release.

The commercial itself was harmless showing Madonna reminiscing about her childhood while singing Like a Prayer. Shortly after the ad aired the full music video for the song was released causing massive controversy. The video featured religious imagery including burning crosses and Madonna kissing a saintlike figure leading to protests from religious groups.

Pepsi quickly faced backlash and under pressure from religious organizations the company pulled the commercial and ended its sponsorship deal with Madonna. Despite the controversy the publicity helped propel Like a Prayer to the top of the charts making it one of Madonna’s biggest hits.

Fun fact: Even though Pepsi canceled the commercial Madonna was still allowed to keep the five million dollars from the endorsement deal.

Trivia question: Madonna’s Like a Prayer album featured multiple hit songs. Can you name another song from the album that became a major hit?