Like a Prayer (song) use the commercial to launch "Like a Prayer" globally before its actual release—the first time something like this was being done in the music industry. Pepsi also benefited from having their product associated with Madonna, thereby creating promotion. According to the company's advertising head Alan Pottasch, "the global media buy and unprecedented debut of this long awaited single will put Pepsi first and foremost in consumer's minds". Madonna had initially refused to dance and sing in the commercial, but later accepted after being introduced to choreographer Vince Paterson. Pepsi premiered the commercial during the global telecast of the 31st Grammy
Like a Prayer (song) 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart. "Like a Prayer" was ranked at number 25 on the 1989 Hot 100 year-end chart, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in May 1989, for shipment of a million copies of the single. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it has also sold 1.1 million digital downloads as of December 2016. In Canada, the song reached the top of the "RPM" Singles Chart in its ninth week. It was present on the chart for 16 weeks and was the top-selling single in Canada for 1989. In Australia, "Like a