If you were looking for a celebrity spokesman whose name and image resonated with Canadian men, could you do any better than Red Green?

Red Green, the king of duct tape, has tickled the hearts and minds of Canadians for thirteen seasons on the Red Green Show, now seen on CBC television every Friday night at 9:30. Recently Steve Smith, the real-life person who created and portrays this Canadian icon, agreed to lend his character's name to the cause of prostate cancer awareness. Smith and his team have created two public service announcements for Canadian television. Using his characteristic wry humour, Smith urges men his age to get themselves tested and reminds them that "you're never too old to do something smart." It's a great message delivered by an ideal messenger.

How did this come about? Surely someone with the status of a Red Green is inundated with proposals for charitable work.

Originally, Smith was approached by his friend and occasional golf partner, urologist, Dr. Paul Whalen. Dr Whalen, was spearheading an ambitious new project, the St. Joseph/ McMaster Institute of Urology, an integrated clinical and academic facility which he hopes will become Canada's leading urology program. Dr. Whalen invited Smith to a special men-only dinner and information evening on prostate health. Several experts were on hand to make presentations but what caught Smith's attention was the honest, personal testimony of prostate cancer patients and survivors. "I had never seen men be that open with each other before," says Smith. "It made a big impression on me."

Subsequently, Dr. Whalen and Smith talked about how Red Green might be able to contribute to Whalen's project. It quickly became clear that with Red Green's status as a national celebrity, it made sense to think in terms of a national campaign rather than a local one. That's when they approached the CPCN. St. Joseph's Healthcare Foundation in Hamilton, and in particular, vice-president, Simone Hicken was instrumental in making the opportunity happen.

Within a few months Smith and his team had written and produced two public service announcements about prostate cancer which will be airing on Canadian television in the New Year. Thanks to an unrestricted education grant from AstraZeneca CPCN will also be producing and distributing 3/4 of a million early detection brochures featuring Red Green. "This is some of the best exposure we could ever hope for," enthuses CPCN president Bob Shiell. "And we are very lucky indeed to have Red Green deliver our message."

Steve Smith has not had prostate cancer, himself. However he has watched a good friend go through the experience and he was shocked by the statistic that one in eight men will get prostate cancer in his lifetime. "I began to get the sense that I could help to raise awareness on a national level," says Smith "I get correspondence from this age group all the time and I thought that there might be something I could do to help reach these men and get them to think about prostate health. I think a lot of men see prostate cancer as a horrible death sentence that it's best to keep silent about. That's the default position for men and I hope that our public service announcements will help move men away from that outlook. I want them to know there is a cure and that it is possible to get through this experience, and out the other side to live a productive life the way my friend did."

As the Red Green spots indicate, the only route to that cure is through early detection.

Watch for the Red Green public service annoncements on your local TV!