Mountain Dew Has Good News For Bob Ross Fans
Mountain Dew is a brand that very much seems to be in search of an identity. A few years back they were a gamer geek cliché, an association they embraced to the extent that they created a product called Game Fuel. Later they decided to rebrand themselves as being all outdoorsy and stuff, as witness their fishing-themed radio spot (via 107.9 The Fox on Facebook): "Out here, there's no spin class, just bright green spinner bait that ironically matches your second Dew." Which, okay, but btw, ad peeps, "ironically" is not a synonym for "coincidentally," so stop using it this way. Anyway, Mountain Dew did yet another volte-face for the Super Bowl, with an ad featuring John Cena driving a pink convertible through bizarro world.
The latest Mountain Dew advertising effort, however, will be going into completely uncharted territory — beyond the veil. They will apparently be "resurrecting" the late, great Bob Ross for one more video, a painting tutorial with a Mountain Dew theme. Whoa ... now that was unexpected.
Bob's people are on board with this
According to a press release (at PR Newswire) about their ad campaign, Mountain Dew's now attempting to "channel nostalgia." Ross has been gone for over 25 years now, and yet his painting tutorials, as well as his oh-so-soothing persona, are more popular now than ever. Nicole Portwood, Mountain Dew's VP of Marketing, calls Ross "a legend and a cultural icon" and praises "his ability to spread joy even amidst chaos" (something we could definitely use a little more of). She says it's "an absolute honor for DEW to make this 'lost episode' for all to enjoy and try their hand a creating a masterpiece with Mr. Ross' guidance."
The episode, which was created with the full cooperation and assistance of The Bob Ross Company, will take the form of a painting tutorial where "happy little droplets" are used to create a Mountain Dew-inspired scene. It will air on March 6 on YouTube, at which time the live chat feature promises some lively viewer commentary. There will also be an online charity auction of the artwork produced, and several TikTok influencers will be sponsoring giveaways of Bob Ross painting kits complete with blank canvases, oil paints, brushes, aprons, and folding easels. (Details as to how you can watch/bid/enter should be available later on Mountain Dew's website.) Planning to paint along with Bob 2.0? As the man himself would say (assuming he were in on the corporate sponsorship): ""You can Dew it! I know you can."