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Promotion
On March 18, The Times announced that Vodafone users in Europe would be able to download seven songs from the album into their phones, one week before its release. In France, the full album and "4 Minutes" video were pre-loaded onto the Samsung F400. Billboard also reported that Vodafone and Warner Music would offer "new music and other forms of mobile content from Hard Candy" to Vodafone costumers prior to the album's release. A similar deal was made with Sony Ericsson, who offered the album pre-loaded onto their phones in 27 countries worldwide. Four days before its release, the album was made abailable on MySpace. On March 24, it was announced that "Miles Away" would be featured in the Japanese TV drama Change, set to begin airing in April. Songs from the album were then featured on "Jump", the second season finale of American series Ugly Betty, aired on May 22. Prior to the episode, a video in which main character Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) asks Madonna for an autographed copy of the album for her nephew's birthday was aired.

Live performances and tour
One day after its release, Madonna sang songs from the album at a small concert in New York City's Roseland Ballroom, in front of an audience of 2,200 people. Furthermore, she performed on Paris' Olympia hall and closed the first night of the BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend.

Hard Candy was further promoted on the Sticky & Sweet Tour, Madonna's eight concert tour. Announced on May 8, 2008, it began in Cardiff on August 23, and ended in São Paulo on December 21. On January 30, it was announced that the tour would resume in the summer of 2009, with twenty-seven more concerts across Europe; the 2009 leg began in London and ended in Tel Aviv. The show was described as a "rock driven dancetastic journey" and, like previous tours by the singer, was divided into different thematic acts: Pimp, Old School, Gypsy, and Rave. Sticky & Sweet received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the production, the singer's energy, and the performances. With a gross of US$411 million ($0 in dollars), it was the second highest-grossing tour in history at the time, behind only the Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour. Additionally, it won Top Boxscore, Top Draw and Top Manager for Guy Oseary at the 2009 Billboard Touring Awards.

Singles
Lead single "4 Minutes" premiered on radio on March 17, 2008, and was released digitally on March 25. Upon release, it received generally mixed reviews; some critics praised its hook, while others criticized Timberlake and Timbaland's participation, and opined Madonna felt like the guest star in her own song. An international success, "4 Minutes" topped the charts in 21 countries worldwide. In the United States, it peaked at the third position of the Billboard Hot 100, giving Madonna her 37th top ten hit. She was previously tied with Elvis Presley for the most top ten singles among all artists in the rock era. "4 Minutes" was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 51st Grammy Awards. The music video was directed by French duo Jonas & François, and features Madonna and Timberlake tackling physical obstacles.

On June 14, "Give It 2 Me" and its remixes were released for digital download. Upon release, the song received generally positive reviews from critics, with its theme of self-empowerment being praised. The track gave Madonna her 39th number one on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 7. "Give It 2 Me" received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording. The accompanying black and white music video was directed by Tom Munro and Nathan Rissman, shows Madonna in cowboy hat and "hipster workout gear", and has an appearance by Williams.

In Europe, "Miles Away" was released on November 21, 2008, while remixes were made available for download on August 11, 2009. Critics applauded the track for its catchiness, and compared it to Timberlake's "What Goes Around... Comes Around" (2006). It was Madonna's ninth consecutive number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart.

Critical reception
Even though it holds a score of 65 on Metacritic, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", critical reception towards Hard Candy has ranged from mixed to unfavorable. Positive feedback came from Blender magazine, where Tony Power wrote: "Album 11 is good-naturedly smutty, not confrontationally nasty, but it's a veritable filth bath compared to the C-SPAN sermons and confessional strumming of 2003's dreadful American Life or the woozily self-actualized club trance of 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor". Also positive was Chris Willman from Entertainment Weekly, who deemed it a "crowd-pleaser of a CD" that "finds [Madonna] dropping her Kabbalah string on the dance floor and readopting an American accent to offer up an unpretentious, nonstop dance party". Despite not being "one of Madonna's great artistic achievements", Hard Candy is a "brisk, exciting listen", according to Nick Levine from Digital Spy. A similar opinion was shared by The New York Times, where Jon Pareles observed: "[The] grand statement [on Hard Candy] is nothing more than that [Madonna]'s still around and can still deliver neat, calculated pop songs [...] [She] has had more profound moments - Like a Prayer, Ray of Light [...] This time around, concocting new ditties that will have her arena audiences singing along, she was smart to stay shallow". Rolling Stone's Caryn Ganz wrote: "A songwriting team of American chart royalty helps Madonna revisit her roots as an urban-disco queen [...] Even when she wrestles with Pharrell’s abrupt stylistic changes or lets herself get absorbed in a Timberlake melody, [she] still finds her way back on top".

From Canadian magazine Now, Benjamin Boles said Hard Candy is "very consistent" despite sounding "a bit too much like [Madonna] desperately trying to catch up with American R&B princesses". Sam Damshenas and Daniel Megarry from Gay Times referred to it as the album in which "[Madonna] stopped creating trends and starting chasing them instead. That’s not inherently a terrible thing [...] it’s a great album [which] sees [her] blend R&B and hip-hop elements with her signature poppy hooks". The National's Saeed Saeed named it "superbly produced", but noted that, "[what makes it] is so disconcerting is how [Madonna] takes a back seat throughout the [entire thing]". On this note, Andy Battaglia from The A.V. Club pointed out: "[A]mid forceful guest spots by Justin Timberlake and Kanye West and self-identifying moves by producers Pharrell Williams and Timbaland, Madonna spends a lot of time in hiding [...] sound[ing] strangely out of place; like a hostage reading into a camera more than a creature of the dancefloor". Kerri Mason, writing for Billboard, was critical of the numerous producers, thought the album was too similar to their work and, for a "vanguard artist like Madonna, feels like a bit of a concession".

For the staff of NME, "half the songs [on Hard Candy] are good but there’s nothing that’ll blow you away [...] [it']s solid enough by the standards of most pop tarts, but for the mistress of innovation? Pretty mediocre". The Times' Pete Paphides said Hard Candy is "no disaster", but that its producers "[have] already done the same thing with Nelly Furtado, Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani". From the BBC, Mark Savage felt that, had it been done by producers with "a touch more subtlety, [Hard Candy] could have ranked alongside Madonna's best", and compared it unfavorable to her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories (1994). According to Instinct's Samuel Murrian: "Justin Timberlake, Pharrell, Kanye West and Timbaland bring exactly what you’d expect from them to the table, but as a result this barely feels like a Madonna record". Writing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine perceived a "disinterest" from the singer's part; "as if she just handed the reins over to Pharrell and Timba-Lake, trusting them to polish up this piece of stale candy", concluding that, "[Hard Candy] is a rare thing: a lifeless Madonna album". Pitchfork's Tom Ewing criticized the production and wondered: "If you're not going to do your best work for Madonna, who are you going to do it for? [...] Nobody involved in Hard Candy is anywhere near their creative peak".

From The Guardian, Alexis Petridis deemed it a "let-down" after the "triumphant" Confessions on a Dance Floor. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine expressed disappointment: "[Madonna] hasn’t delivered this many vapid floor fillers on one disc since her debut, and maybe not even then [...] there are few confessions here—nothing political, nothing too spiritual, no talk of fame, war, or the media. It’s just what America ordered". A writer from the Telegram & Gazette deemed it an "uneven" album that, "unintentionally and constantly, reminds us when [Madonna] was so much more interesting, so much more appealing, so much more original, and alas, so much younger". Thomas Hausner from PopMatters dismissed Hard Candy as "recycled pop [...] indistinguishable [and] artificial [...] [Its] conception is juvenile and contrived, but in a desperate, not naive, way. [Madonna] has seemingly run out of barriers against which to rebel". Nicolás Mayo from Spanish website Terra named it Madonna's worst and "most forgettable" album up at the time; "the 'Pharrell sound', the 'Timbaland sound' [...] [have] already [been] done by other singers in much better ways [...] trying to resurrect it through run-of-the-mill R&B is not a good move for anyone, even less so for someone like Madonna". Talia Soghomonian from MusicOMH panned the album: "Lacking subtlety, overworked and overproduced [...] [and] allowing [Madonna] to play second fiddle to the clattering beats and fussy production of Timbaland, Hard Candy is overwhelming at times, but underwhelming most of the time".

Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" !scope="col"|Chart (2008) !scope="col"|Position !scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA) !scope="row"|Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) !scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) !scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) !scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Billboard) !scope="row"|Croatian Combined Albums (HDU) !scope="row"|Danish Albums (Hitlisten) !scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) !scope="row"| European Top 100 Albums (Billboard) !scope="row"| Finnish Foreign Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) !scope="row"|French Albums (SNEP) !scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) !scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI) !scope="row"| Greek Foreign Albums (IFPI) !scope="row"| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) !scope="row"| Hungarian Albums & Compilations (MAHASZ)
 * +Year-end chart performance for Hard Candy
 * 47
 * 20
 * 22
 * 25
 * 9
 * 14
 * 16
 * 10
 * 7
 * 6
 * 23
 * 14
 * 12
 * 2
 * 5