Once upon a time I used to be “hip” and “with it,” but now, according to my Gen Z kids, I am “cringe.” One thing we can agree on is the enduring brilliance of Bob Ross, whom I love because of my childhood spent watching him on PBS, and whom they love because of Twitch and stuff like this, which I refuse to even try to understand:

　　Though I may be getting older and less cool with each passing second, MTN DEW (“Mountain Dew” to us old-timers) is doing its damndest to be funky fresh with the Zoomers. On March 6, MTN DEW will be releasing a never-before-seen “Bob Ross ‘Lost Episode’” on its official YouTube channel. Despite the somewhat deceptive name, the video is brand-new content developed in conjunction with the Bob Ross Company; the longform video will provide instructions on how to paint “a fantastic little winter scene” that also features MTN DEW in some unknown way, shape, or form. Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be the opposite of cringe.

　　Even though most fans of The Joy of Painting never once picked up a brush (the joy of Bob and his pet squirrels were more than enough for us), for those who want to paint along, MTN DEW has created limited-edition Bob Ross Paint Kits, which include a small blank canvas, oil paints, brushes, travel easel, custom apron, and more. If you want to get your hands on one of the exclusive kits, you’ll need to pray you get lucky, as they’re being “distributed via a social giveaway driven by a select group of TikTok influencers following the YouTube Premiere.” If the TikTok influencers determine you’re not awesome enough to get a set, here are the paints you’ll need to purchase if you want to follow along:

　　Alizarin CrimsonVan Dyke BrownMidnight BlackPrussian Blue Phthalo BluePhthalo GreenSap GreenCadmium YellowIndian YellowBright Red

　　Titanium White It really is nice to see the names of those colors again, ain’t it? While I’m not looking forward to a future where I am inevitably rendered obsolete, I truly am looking forward to a future where Millennial Pink is replaced by Van Dyke Brown.