MadonnaMadonna has hit back at ageist critics in a new ad campaign, declaring: “Count my achievements, not the number of years I have lived on this planet.”
Linking up with the Brazilian bank, Itaú, for a new extravagant advertisement, she walks up a set of grand stairs. She says, in an almost deadpan manner – with Vogue playing in the background and a video montage of the Like A Prayer singer’s career:
They call me the Queen of Pop. I know it’s a compliment, but the monarchy is in the past. I am not. I have no age. I’m all ages. It’s not about who I am. It’s about how many I am. Count my achievements, not the number of years I have lived on this planet. I am always re-inventing myself so that I can keep being myself.
Referencing her claim at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, she added, “I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around.”
The video advert concluded with Madonna saying, “I have seen many stars appear and disappear, like shooting stars. But my light will never fade. Not everyone is coming to the future. But I am. I’ll keep going today, tomorrow and the next 100 years.”
You can watch the video below.
Last year, Madonna accused Grammy Awards viewers of “ageism and misogyny” after people watching at home seemed overly concerned about how her face looked.
“Once again, I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny That permeates the world we live in,” she wrote on Instagram. “A world that refuses to celebrate women past the age of 45 And feels the need to punish her If she continues to be strong-willed, hard-working and adventurous.”
In 2019, The Music’s Cyclone Wehner published a feature called Madonna Is Many Things & Her Age Isn’t One Of Them.
Exploring the “gendered ageism and the way it functions to invalidate women's credibility” Madonna has been affected by, Cyclone pulled out the artist’s Billboard Music Awards speech, where she said:
“You will be criticised, you will be vilified, and you will definitely not be played on the radio. People say I'm controversial. But I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around.”
