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Can the Kool-Aid Man bust a brick wall and survive? Oh, yeah!

It's time to seriously address the question of how a glass pitcher full of Kool-Aid can run through a wall without suffering a horrible, delicious death.

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Bonnie Burton
3 min read

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We had no idea Kool-Aid Man was so heavy! Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET

The Kool-Aid Man mascot is best known for saving thirsty children everywhere by running through walls to make sure they get the sugary beverage he promotes -- and that he's filled with.

It's creepy when you really think about it. He's a jovial giant pitcher full of Kool-Aid with arms and legs who races to your rescue if you yell for refreshment. He will run through walls just to make sure you don't die of thirst. That's how much he cares.

He clearly loves his dangerous job. As he breaks through brick walls in parks, houses and schools, he screams, "Oh, yeah!" Kids loved him in the 1980s so much he had not one but two video games and a comic book series.

The mascot briefly retired in 1994 and was replaced with CGI. But in 2008, he returned as a live-action character skateboarding and playing basketball with the kids he served his sugary blood to.

But what if Kool-Aid Man existed in real life? Would he survive as a large glass container running through a wall without a care in the world? Or would he shatter into a million sharp pieces of debris mixed with Kool-Aid?

Luckily, Vsauce3 made a video setting to rest the debate once and for all as to whether the Kool-Aid Man should be screaming "Oh yeah!" or "Oh no!"

In the video, it's estimated that Kool-Aid Man is 6 feet tall with glass 3.6 inches thick (183 cm and 9.1 cm respectively). Without liquid he'd weigh 5,800 lbs (2,631 kg). But when filled with 607.6 gallons (2,300 lit) of liquid, he weighs in at 11,000 lbs (4,990 kg), which is roughly the same weight as an elephant.

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Running through walls without dying isn't as easy as it looks. Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET

This informative video reminds us that glass isn't as fragile as we think. "Glass can withstand pressures 469 times that of our atmosphere, seven times more than brick, and takes twice as much energy to break," Vsauce explains.

Keeping this in mind, we see that Kool-Aid Man (K.A.M. for short) has glass that's thick enough to not break when coming into contact with a brick wall.

But if we assume the Kool-Aid drink inside the Man also works as his blood, wouldn't he also run the health risk of massive blood loss from it sloshing around and out of the opening of the pitcher that serves as both his body and head?

According to Vsauce, humans can lose about 15 percent of our blood without any immediate effects, which is referred to as a Class 1 hemorrhage. It's not until you get further down the hemorrhage scale that it starts to become deadly.

So when K.A.M. breaks through the brick wall to deliver his tasty liquid to the masses, he'll lose one-third of his blood, which doesn't look too good for the big fella. However, if he's made from laminated glass -- think bulletproof windows -- then he'll be in better shape. Vsauce suggests that K.A.M. consider wearing a hat to keep more of his blood inside and falling building debris out.

Of course, he could avoid all unnecessary injury and property damage just by opening the door instead, but where's the fun in that?