Chris Hemsworth has brought some Hollywood star power to the launch of a new tourism campaign spruiking Australia’s unique way of life – or “philausophy” – to a divided and disconnected world.
Celebrity chef Kylie Kwong, wildlife warriors Terri and Robert Irwin, author Kathy Lette and model twins Jordan and Zac Stenmark also helped launch the campaign at the Sydney Opera House on Wednesday.
It’s centered around nine “philausophies” that underpin the Australian way of life, including mateship, a love of nature, a sense of adventure, a no worries attitude and boundless optimism.
“To say that Australians are laid back, outgoing, and have a great sense of humor would be both buying into widely-known clichés and admitting an absolute truth,” the Thor actor said.
“An incredible sense of adventure and an insistence on having a great time is truly born into our DNA.”
With the Philausophy campaign, Tourism Australia is putting the focus back on mateship. At the launch event, MC Michael “Wippa” Wipfli asked Thor actor Hemsworth where the strangest place he’d made friends with someone in Australia was.
“We were being choppered from one location to the next – and on the way to the airport we saw a backpacker heading to the same destination we were headed,” Hemsworth said. “We said, this would be pretty funny … where are you headed, mate?”
The next minute, the young American musician was on a helicopter with Hemsworth and his friends, playing songs on a guitar as they flew from Sydney to Byron Bay.
Check out more photos of Chris Hemsworth at the Tourism Australia Launch in the gallery above.
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