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 (album) Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of three million units. After the advent of the Nielsen SoundScan era in 1991, the album sold a further 575,000 copies. "Like a Prayer" has sold over 4 million copies in the United States. In Canada, the album debuted at number two on the RPM Albums Chart on May 1, 1989. It remained on that position during four weeks, before dropping to the third position the week of May 29, 1989. The album was present for a total of 37 weeks on the chart, and was certified five times