It would take a few years after they started before the lads in The Police (Sting, Stewart Copeland, Andy Summers) started seeing the big money rolling in.
To help the ailing finances in the early part of their careers, they took on extra work by appearing in various TV commercials. They agreed to nearly anything as long as the pay was decent. Which, in fairness, it usually was.
The band likely never thought that one of those assignments would end up having a major impact on their career. In 1978, they got the opportunity to appear in a commercial for Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum.
This job wasn’t anything special. It was just another gig for them – one of many, and the money was good, so they jumped on it.
This experience would have a big effect on their image, as Wrigley’s asked the band to die their hair blonde to look more ‘punk rock.’ They all had natural dark brown hair, so this was a big change.
After going through the hair colouring, they all looked at each other. Hmm. There was something about that look. They found that they all liked it and decided to keep it.
After the job was done, they all walked out of the shoot with their new hairstyles intact. From that point onward, this would be their signature look.
Unfortunately, looking around the internet for this commercial is a fruitless exercise. It never aired, and is unlikely to even exist in someone’s vault as that campaign was scrapped.
This may have been a good thing for the band, as this meant they didn’t need to attribute the image change to anyone else but themselves.
Other adverts from that time do exist though. Did you know that Sting did an advert for Brutus Jeans in 1979?
There is also a very memorable advert for Triumph braziers. Sting was featured alongside Joanna Lumley and several underwear models. It was likely most memorable!
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