Paul Hogan, who introduced Australians to Winfield cigarettes in a wildly successful television advertising campaign, is now asking his countrymen to donate money for cancer research, the Daily Mail reports.
Hogan's old trademark "Anyhow, have a Winfield" slogan used to flog cancer-causing tobacco productshas been replaced with "Let's cure cancer, Australia".
The actor earnt his first big television cheque more than a decade before he made Crocodile Dundee by promoting Winfield, which became Australia's top-selling cigarette brand.
Now Hogan is helping push cancer research for Cure Cancer Australia in advertisements that nod to his famous "shrimp on the barbie" tourism campaign in Australia.
In the first of a series of Aussie television commercials for Winfield that began in 1972, Hogan appeared on stage wearing a tuxedo in front of an orchestra.
"G'day," he said. "I've been asked to talk to ya, see. And bein' the suave, sophisticated man about town, I thought I'd do the job with a bit of, ya know, polish. A touch of class..."
"Anyhow, what I've got here is a new brand of cigarettes, Winfield. Have good look at 'em.
"Now, you might say nothin' extraordinary about that. Well, I've got news for you.
"And if you're a smoker, it'll be the best bit of news you've heard in 10 years or more.
"These new Winfields are 40 cents. That's about the price you should be payin' for a good smoke. But have a go at the length of 'em.
"This would have to be the best cigarette value in Australia today. No risk.
"And it's not just the extra length," he said, lighting a Winfield and taking a drag. "It's the good tobacco. Mild. Quality all the way.
"Well how good's that for 40 cents?"
Hogan ended the commercial with a wink to the camera and what became his famous sign-off: "Anyhow, have a Winfield."
Winfield became Australia's top-selling cigarette brand when it moved from packs of 20s to 25s and continued to be heavily promoted on television and in print by Hogan.
Cigarette advertising in Australia was banned on radio and television in 1976 and in print media in 1989.
Hogan in a scene from the film 'Crocodile Dundee', 1986. Photo / Getty Images
After promoting cigarettes, Hogan starred in 1980s television commercials for the Australian Tourism Commission, inviting Americans to visit his homeland with the line "Come on. Come and say g'day. I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for ya".
This summer he is using a similar laid-back approach to help raise funds for cancer research in a promotion dubbed Barbecure. He is appearing for free.
"G'day," he says, standing behind a barbecue, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background, on behalf of Cure Cancer Australia.
"Do you know, one Australian dies every 12 minutes from cancer?
"Now, what we've got in Australia are these brilliant, dedicated young scientists who are trying to find a cure.
"All they need from us is a bit of financial backing,support. How do we do that? Hold a barbecue. It raises money for 'em. How simple can it be? How Australian is that? Get to work."
As the lead ambassador for Barbecure, Hogan is encouraging Australians to host a barbecue and donate money to Cure Cancer Australia.
"We've all lost a friend or a family member to cancer and it's one of the leading causes of death in Australia," the actor said in promotional material for Barbecure.
"As we get closer to finding a cure, we need to do everything we can to support Australia's brilliant emerging scientists."
Cure Cancer Australia's chief marketing officer Lisa Shipman told Daily Mail Australia she was thrilled to have Hogan as the campaign's ambassador.
Hogan, now 78, expressed his regret over advertising cigarettes, which helped him quit his job working as a rigger on the Habour Bridge, in an interview with news.com.au in 2013.
"Yeah, we were encouraging people to smoke," Hogan said then.
"At the time, 1971 or something, they used to say: 'Doctors recommend…' or 'Nine out of 10 smokers prefer…'
