This isn’t your mom’s Good Humor man — or woman.
The nearly century-old ice cream seller is being overhauled for the summer, trading in nerdy all-white duds, outdated jingle and box truck for skinny jeans, Beyoncé tunes and a tricked-out ride as part of a company experiment targeting Long Island.
“It’s just an old-fashioned idea that needs to be revitalized,” said Butch Yamali, head of Good Humor’s Nassau County distributor, Dover Group.
“It’s an expensive investment, but you have to change with the times.
“When I was a kid, there were no cellphones, there were no iPads. When you heard the ice cream truck, you ran down the street no matter what you were doing. Nowadays, a lot of kids have earphones in, and they don’t even notice.”
The changeover begins this month, with drivers ditching their white uniforms and black bow ties and white caps in favor of more current fashions.
The trucks’ jingle is being swapped for pop hits from the likes of Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.
And instead of the staid white ride, the Good Humor man will tool around in a flashily painted truck.
Some of the rides will let customers touch iPad screens to order up Strawberry Shortcake and Chocolate Eclair bars. The screens will even provide nutrition and calorie information and allergy alerts.
Good Humor launched in 1920 in Youngstown, Ohio, and soon forged an identity with its snappily attired staffers and squad of roving trucks.
The Good Humor man became an iconic character, and the company expanded across the country.
Yamali said Good Humor bosses will be closely watching sales trends with the revamped trucks on Long Island, and added that a successful run might spark a nationwide rebranding.