Spice Girls album of 1997 and was certified 8× Platinum by the IFPI for sales in excess of 8 million copies. That same month the Spice Girls attracted a crowd of 500,000 when they switched on the Christmas lights in Oxford Street, London. At the same time, Simon Fuller started to set up million pound sponsorship deals for the Spice Girls with Pepsi, Walkers, Impulse, Cadbury's and Polaroid. In December 1996, the group won three trophies at the "Smash Hits" awards at the London Arena, including best video for "Say You'll Be There". In January 1997, the group released "Wannabe" in the
Run the World (Girls) woman-friendly conviction than Geri Halliwell at a Spice Girls convention circa 1998." Tom Breihan of Pitchfork Media wrote that "Run the World (Girls)" is "as devotedly pro-female as the title would lead you to expect", and is as dancefloor-directed as Beyoncé gets, in the tradition of "Get Me Bodied" and "Single Ladies". Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani wrote "[Beyoncé] misses the mark big time here" and called the song "plain daft". He, however, praised the song's bridge and Beyoncé "warm, gooey harmonies". Maura Johnston of "The Village Voice" disapproved of the song's lack of structure, calling it "a bit overstuffed, but