Note: This video shows a March 1989 TV ad for Pepsi entitled “Make a Wish,”
featuring pop music star Madonna singing & dancing. This ad was subsequently
pulled after a related video generated controversy. See more at story link below.
Ad story: This Pepsi ad uses a flash-back storyline opening with Madonna
seated in a parlor watching an old black-and-white home movie of herself as
a young girl at a birthday party. The spot cuts back and forth between the
young Madonna and adult versions in sync with the music set to various dance
scenes — to the young girl in school, to more dancing in a street scene, back to
the girl a little older, another with Madonna dancing among joyful gospel singers,
and then finally to Madonna in the opening parlor scene watching the home
movie seated with a can of Pepsi. There she watches the 8 year-old Madonna
in the black-and-white film at her party, holding a 1950s Pepsi bottle and straw,
about to blow out the candles on her cake. Across the ages, the two Madonnas
toast each other with their respective Pepsis. Then Madonna says to the birth-
day girl, “Go ahead, make a wish.” With that, the little girl blows out the candles
and the film ends. Cut to Pepsi logo and slogan, “A Generation Ahead.”
Related Story
See related story about the making of this ad, and the controversy that
followed it at: “Madonna’s Pepsi Ad, 1989.”
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Video Source
The original source for this video is found at YouTube.com.
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Date Posted: 16 November 2010
Last Update: 31 January 2024
Comments to: jdoyle@pophistorydig.com
Article Citation:
Jack Doyle, “Pepsi’s Madonna Video, 1989” (TV Ad),
PopHistoryDig.com, November 16, 2010.
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Books & Film at Amazon.com…
 Mary Gabriel’s 2023 book, “Madonna: A Rebel Life.” Click for copy. |
 “Truth or Dare, Madonna” (1991). Click to rent or buy 2 hr film. |
 Madonna music - “Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones.” Click for CD or digital. |