It has been claimed that the campaign has resulted in attracting only 400 new recruits, which prices the cost of each new officer at 拢30,000.
The high-profile campaign featureda number of well-known faces and celebrities, as well as Lewis, including Falklands War veteran Simon Weston, the former third-world debt campaigner Bob Geldof, former EastEnder Patsy Palmer and former England and Liverpool star John Barnes.
The TV campaign, which highlights the challenges of being a police officer, was backed by radio, press, cinema, poster and online advertising and was created by M&C Saatchi.
The campaign has been attacked by Conservative MP Tim Collins, who said the campaign was a waste of money. "This government is spending more money on advertising than any previous government. Now it turns out most of that money is being wasted," he said.
He added: "It's all being spent on making the government look good, not on seriously tackling police numbers."
The advertising was tasked with the dual aim of bolstering the police's public image and attracting quality recruits to fill 9,000 vacancies at constabularies across the country over the next three years.
The Home Office has rejected the charges. It said that since the campaign launched in August 2000, the Police Service has received 67,000 expressions of interest from applicants.
"The campaign has already been extremely successful in raising the profile of policing as a modern and progressive career choice. Research shows that 60% of respondents said the advertising had a positive impact on their perceptions of the police service," Home Office minister John Denham said.
The tone of the campaign was set in the early ads by Weston, much admired for his courage in rebuilding his life after suffering disfiguring burns in the Falklands War. But, in the ad, he confesses he would never be able to tell a man that his wife and child had just been killed by a drunken driver.
In another execution featuring Lennox Lewis, the boxer says how important it is to stay in control, but confesses that if he were faced with a man who beat his wife, it would be difficult to keep his composure.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .