To introduce new Bear Creek Country Kitchen Pasta Mixes, we wanted an icon that could capture its tasty heartiness. What better icon than a bear? Especially given that ‘Bear’ is in the Bear Creek name. Well, it seemed like a no brainer. Besides, what’s cooler than a bear?

We wanted our bears to be real, not cartoony. We were looking for a commercial that would feel like a documentary observing bears doing some very human things. But how to technically pull it off? Could real bears be trained to stir a pot of pasta then bring it to the table? Could animatronic bears look lifelike enough? Should the bears be computer generated? Or should we put actors in bear suits? The answer actually ended up being a combination of these ideas. It was like a big puzzle.

We decided to shoot with a director who was very familiar with shooting animals — Chris Hooper from Uber Content. And we leaned on the technical expertise of The Mill in New York. It was a very collaborative process. Real bears were trained to do as much of the action as possible. Puppeteers then imitated the bears’ actions on parts they couldn’t do—mostly stuff with their paws.

The result is a docu-spot that – like our little bear cubs – will have people clamoring for Bear Creek’s hearty pasta.

And no humans were harmed in the making of this commercial.