Canny Sting cashes in on a free ride

The Diary has always thought it strange that Sting – saviour of the rainforests, conservation nut, organic farmer and yoga devotee – has never fought shy of promoting gas-guzzling, pollution-generating, traffic chaos-causing cars.

But the seasoned rock god no longer sits around (presumably in a traffic jam) waiting for car companies to request his services. No. He calls them first. In the video for his latest single Desert Rose, Sting decided to be shot in a Jaguar S-Type. He promptly got his manager to ring Jaguar to suggest the company develop the video into an advertisement for the car. Canny, eh?

In the same video, Sting is seen using a Sony hand-held camcorder. Has he called Sony yet about a marketing tie-in? From now on, will all of his videos be conspicuously filled with consumer products for Sting to cash in on? Rumour has it, he’s managed to purloin a Jaguar S-Type to chauffeur-drive him while on tour.