Madonna is giving props to Pepsi for finally airing her 1989 Pepsi commercial, which they pulled following her controversial video for “Like A Prayer.”
The commercial finally aired during the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday, September 12. In a post on Instagram, she thanked the soft drink company for “finally realizing the genius of our collaboration.”
“34 years ago I made a commercial with Pepsi to celebrate the release of my song Like a Prayer,” she explains in the post. “The commercial was immediately canceled when I refused to change any scenes in the video where I was kissing a black saint or burning crosses,” noting, “So began my illustrious career as an artist refusing to compromise my artistic integrity.”
The ad that premiered during the VMAs ends with the line “celebrating 40 years of disrupting the status quo.” Madonna added in her post, “Artists are here to disturb the peace.”
Madonna’s Pepsi ad premiered in 1989 with “Like A Prayer,” the title track from her fourth studio album featured prominently in the clip. It was quickly pulled after religious groups protested the song’s controversial video, which featured religious symbols like stigmata and burning crosses.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.