Lentorama 2009: Great(?) Moments in Catholics on Television

March 2, 1989: Madonna's "Like a Prayer" video debuts as part of a Pepsi ad.

I'm not clear why Pepsi thought a Madonna-based ad airing during The Cosby Show would be a natural fit to begin with, but when you throw in stigmata, burning crosses, and an apparent affair between the singer and Saint Martin de Porres, it really doesn't make sense.

Not surprisingly, the backlash came quickly, leading Pepsi to pull the ad and put the kibosh on the two other ads called for in their $5 million deal with the singer. She got to keep the cash, and the publicity didn't hurt her album of the same name, which sold 11 million copies worldwide.

The video would debut on MTV the following day (the network being immune to backlash, as it's clearly run by heathens), and would go on to win the Viewer's Choice Award at that year's VMAs, and would later crop up on pretty much every list of the greatest/most daring videos of all time.