Kool-Aid Man Gets A Makeover

Like other famous icons of the 80s and 90s, the Kool-Aid Man has gotten a bit of work done. He's still a giant pitcher with arms and legs and a big, smiley face, but the character will no longer be played by an actor in a foam suit. Now he's all shiny, translucent CGI.

"Oh yeah!" Kool-Aid Man would shout as he burst through the walls of innocent suburban homes to bring powdered drink mix to children.

But Kool-Aid wants to focus its branding efforts on its new line of liquid-based juice mix, and the new Kool-Aid Man is going to be talking more and demonstrating more of a personality so he can be more of a Kool-Aid brand ambassador than destructive force of nature.

"He said a few things here and there (in the past), but he really didn't have a developed personality," said Erica Rendall, senior brand manager at Kraft Foods Group Inc., to The Huffington Post. In an effort to make him more relatable to consumers, Kool-Aid Man will try to play himself off as a chatty everyman who just happens to also be a giant talking pitcher.

According to The Huffington Post, one of the new ads begins with Kool-Aid Man in the shower, a visual we frankly never wanted to contemplate. When he emerges, he's just a pitcher full of clear water. The different flavors of Kool-Aid, we're told, are like clothes to him.

"I put my pants on one leg at a time," he says, showing off a wardrobe full of Kool-Aid mixes. "Except my pants are 22 different flavors. I've got grape pants, I've got watermelon pants."

Not everything has changed, though. Once "dressed" in the flavor of his choice, Kool-Aid Man heads off to work by bursting right through the front door.