Kevin Corcoran and Terry Procter - the elderly men who became household faces appearing in the adverts waiting for the cheese to mature - have been replaced with a new duo, a man and his grandson.
Fonterra, which owns the brand, has decided on a new direction for the advertisements but is sticking with its story-telling theme.
The new adverts, which carry the same familiar background music, introduce a young boy who arrives to stay with his cheese-maker grandfather in mythical "Mainland Valley" in the South Island, where they are eating bread rolls with cheese inside.
Mr Corcoran (76), who retired to Cromwell from Gore, said that after appearing in the advertisements for 10 years he was told in an apologetic phone call about two weeks ago he and Mr Procter (69) would no longer be involved.
He and his Picton mate were surprised "but not upset" by the news.
"We're just taking it on the shoulder and carrying on."
Mr Corcoran said his favourite advertisement was the first the pair did together which showed them walking along reciting a word game using musicians' names and species of fish such as "Cod Stewart" and "Tim and Eel Finn".
Mr Corcoran cannot recall the number of commercials he appeared in for the company but reckons it was about "10 or a dozen".
Mainland marketing manager Debbie Barlow said the pair had been hugely successful but it was time for a change.
