During one segment of her performance, the Material Girl sings while suspended from a giant cross and wearing a crown of thorns.  The scene has prompted sharp responses from the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, especially overseas, but generated lukewarm responses among the American public.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of respondents to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey about the pop star say they’ve read, seen or heard about the segment; 45% have not (see crosstabs). 

Forty-one percent (41%) of the 1,000 adults surveyed say they consider the scene offensive.  Thirty-two percent (32%) disagree.

The singer claims that the staged crucifixion is not an attempt to mock religion, but rather her “plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole.”  A majority of survey respondents (55%) don’t buy that explanation and believe the scene is meant solely for publicity.  Only 16% believe Madonna’s explanation is sincere.

NBC, which plans to air a concert special in November based on the “Confessions” tour, is deciding whether to include footage of the crucifixion scene in its broadcast.  Sixty-six percent (66%) of those surveyed say they would not watch a Madonna concert on television and 21% say they would.

The majority of respondents do not classify themselves as Madonna fans, which could account for their lack of interest in her latest controversy.  Fifty-six percent (56%) report unfavorable opinions of the singer with 25% saying they have “very unfavorable” opinions of her.  Thirty-two percent (32%) feel favorably toward Madonna, but only 5% are at the highest extreme.

Madonna’s 60-date, 4-month tour wrapped up on September 21 in Japan.  “Confessions” was the highest-grossing tour ever by a female artist, generating nearly $194 million and attracting 1.2 million fans.

H&M, which brought in Madonna for its autumn fashion campaign, reported a pretax profit of 3.77 billion Swedish crowns ($516 million) in the second quarter, against analysts' average forecast of 3.60 billion in a Reuters poll and 3.32 billion in the same quarter last year.

Sales for comparable stores in August rose 5.0 percent year-on-year, against a median forecast of 3.0 percent and an average of 2.8 percent.
The key gross margin for the third quarter was 59.2 percent, against a forecast of 58.4 percent and 58.8 percent in the same period in 2005.

The margin was boosted 0.7 percent "mainly due to a more efficient purchasing process that has led to lower buying prices," H&M said in a statement.

But it added that price cuts had been greater in the third quarter due to a higher inventory level at the start of the period. This cut the margin by 0.3 percent, resulting in an overall 0.4 percent rise in the margin from the third quarter in 2005.

H&M said that its inventory level at the beginning of August was "well-balanced both in volume and content."

The underwear-to-suit retailer said its plans for a separately branded chain for men and women, to be launched in spring 2007, were on track, with around 10 stores due next year.

It expects to open 80 new H&M stores in the fourth quarter to add to its 1,264 already open.

H&M in July said it was using Madonna to promote a line of track suits, while it also designed a complete wardrobe for her stage crew, part of a long-term agreement with the singer.