POP/ROCK - April 5, 1989

Pepsi is hedging on its support of Madonna. The much-ballyhooed ad the singer made for Pepsi, which aired only once in a splashy debut on March 2, will not be shown again because it is tied in the public’s mind to the controversial “Like a Prayer” video, a spokesman for the cola giant confirmed Tuesday. As for the financial support of a Madonna concert tour that was also included in the reported $5-million deal Madonna signed with Pepsi earlier this year, the company’s Tod MacKenzie would say only: “No comment.” PepsiCo, a conglomerate that also includes such businesses as Frito-Lay, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell, had been targeted for boycott by both the conservative American Family Assn. and Catholic Bishop Rene Gracida of Texas. The association’s Rev. Donald Wildmon said this week that he would end the boycott after being told by Pepsi that it would pull the ad and cancel the tour sponsorship.