In a bid to show that even he can change completely, Jon Gosselin has dumped friend / associate Michael Lohan, taken out the diamond earrings, given up on hair gel and Ed Hardy clothes, and vouched to be the man he was a few months ago. As it happens, it’s not for real but for a video for Funny Or Die, in which Gosselin responds to ongoing criticism by making fun of himself.

The video begins with Jon sitting on a couch and striking his by-now famous “I’m almost gangsta cool” pose. He has on an Ed Hardy tee, red snickers, sunglasses on his head and is dressed more like a man in his early 20s than a father of eight who repeatedly says his main concern is his children and not his own person. He starts by saying he knows his image has taken a hit, but he’s bent on making things right – and what better way to do so than ridding himself of everything he learned these past few months, since the divorce was made public.

“For the past few months, I’ve been looking back and thinking, ‘Man this is not me. This is not what I want to do.’ I just want to go back to the normal, simple life like I used to have. People always say to me, ‘Jon, you can’t go back.’ But I am going to go back. I’m going to learn from my mistakes. I’m going to move forward,” Gosselin says, seconds within the video.

So his transformation begins: he first takes out the diamond earrings, then throws away the haircare products and goes back to the ‘do he had before becoming a single man again. His next stop is the fridge, from where he removes alcohol bottles, Red Bull cans, and beer six-packs. Swimsuit-clad blondes and going only to paparazzi-infested hotspots are also crossed off the list. The Jon Gosselin we see at the end of the video is a Jon Gosselin that looks very much like the one the entire world almost got to love on the “Jon & Kate Plus 8” reality show – or does he? Watch the video at the end of the article and judge for yourselves.

However, whether poking fun at what he’s become in the media is the way to go to mend his tarnished imagine is debatable, though. As the New York Daily News also points out, if anything, at least it’s mildly fun. “What does it take for Jon Gosselin to clean up his tarnished image? Spoofing himself in a viral video doesn’t quite cut it – but it does at least provide a few laughs,” the publication writes.