How DID They Herd Those Cats, Anyway?
February 5, 2026
The Story Behind the “Cat Herders” Commercial
Candilee Jackson
(editor’s note: in 2017, Cat Talk ran a story about how the famous “Cat Herders’ ” video was made. Nine years later, it’s still considered one of – if not THE – best Super Bowl commercials ever.
As the Super Bowl is being played Sunday, we thought we’d treat our readers to the story so that YOU can share some cat trivia…and perhaps share this story)
About every five or six months, someone on Facebook discovers the cat herders commercial, and after watching the spoof several times, ponders, “How’d they do that?” And then begins the sharing of the ad to all their friends. Since this occurrence is definitely a piece of millennial phenomena, Cat Talk decided to go behind the scenes to find out exactly what makes this advertisement so popular, as well as to answer the question, “How’d they do that?”.
“Electronic Data Systems (EDS), a global business and technology service based in Texas, began a suite of imaginative Super Bowl TV advertisements in 2000 with ‘Cat Herders’.” This particular spot was the brainchild of creative director, David Lubars, and art director, Dean Hanson. Working with this creative team, the shoot was completed at the Tejon Ranch, 70 miles north of Los Angeles. “The script came largely out of the improvised quips of the cowboys, replacing cattle with cats, as the idea was explained to the cast and crew. The outcome was a short saga about the cowboys’ life as they herded cats, describing their challenge of rounding up ”short hairs” (as opposed to Texas Longhorns ) and herding them through the open range to their final destination at the ranch.
The casting director had quite a time locating authentic cowboys, and the casting call “was put out across Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and California. While most of the cowboys had never acted before, a couple were SAG-accredited.” Included in the cast list of about 25 were skilled cowboy professionals, horse trainers, wranglers, doubles, a trick-roper and stunt performers. Some of the actors wore their normal cowboy garb, “but their faces were made up to look cat-scratched, tanned or weather-beaten.”
When watching the commercial, viewers see thousands of cats, however, only about sixty cats were used in the actual filming, with five cats per trainer. The vast number of cats actually was computer-generated. Although filming took only five days to complete, the cats and their trainers reported to the Tejon Ranch a week before the film crew arrived. Since the commercial called for a variety of feline skills, “including running, sleeping, water scenes, or staying motionless,” the trainers’ biggest chore was to teach their feline actors to swim. For the dramatic river crossing, swimming lessons began in about a quarter inch of water, graduating slowly to pool swimming depth. “Since we were shooting in nippy weather, our ‘river’ was actually a small pool warmed by a portable heater, like a little cat Jacuzzi.” Cats worked in shifts to film the herding scenes, with the head trainer hiding in tumbleweeds to issue verbal directions. “The illusion of cats stampeding was achieved by using clickers normally associated with food. During filming, clickers prompted the felines to run downhill, towards food which was out of shot. At other times, cats were lured by strategically placed tuna.” Both human and feline took to one another almost immediately, and it wasn’t unusual for a trainer to go in search of an errant cat at bed time only to find it curled up, asleep with a cowboy!
In accordance with American Humane Association guidelines, horses and cats were filmed separately for safety reasons. For scenes where both horses and cats were required, a computer-operated motion-control camera was used to film the same shot over and over with each animal. The horses, background, and layers of kitties were filmed separately and were stripped in during post-production editing to create the illusion of an elaborate cat drive.
Almost everyone’s favorite Facebook and YouTube advertisement, “Cat Herders” won a number of accolades in 2000-2001, including the First Boards Award, a Cannes Silver Lion, a bronze Clio, Advertising Age’s Best Visual Effects Award, and a silver EFFIE Award. Topping its honors was the nomination for an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial for 2000.
And now for the tricky part: exactly WHAT company was the commercial touting? EDS! Completely lost in the amazing film work and the script was the company, until the firm is mentioned at the very end.
Electronic Data Systems wanted “to create a campaign with strong brand awareness with a dual purpose: to change the company’s image for present and future growth, and also to improve the morale and self-image of its employees.” The advertisement “gave EDS employees an image that was serious, despite the humor of the commercial, and it highlighted EDS’s problem-solving capabilities for its customers.” The idea was to create a “giant Western metaphor, featuring ‘grizzled cowboys’ herding thousands of cats across the Montana plains, terminating in the satisfactory resolution “EDSolved”. The commercial was shown on January 30, 2000, at the Super Bowl XXXIV, and was cited by then President Bill Clinton as his favorite commercial.
Script:
“This man right here is my great grandfather. He’s the first cat herder in our family. Herding cats. Don’t let anybody tell you it’s easy. Anybody can herd cattle. Holding together ten thousand half-wild short hairs – that’s another thing altogether.
Being a cat herder is probably about the toughest thing I’ve ever done.
I got this one this morning – right here. And if you look at his face, it’s just ripped to shreds, you know.
You see the movies, you hear the stories – it’s … I’m living a dream. Not everyone can do what we do.
I wouldn’t do nothin’ else. It ain’t an easy job, but when you bring a herd into town and you ain’t lost one of them, ain’t a feeling like it in the world.
(On-screen Text) In a sense this is what we do. We bring together information, ideas and technologies, and make them go where you want.
(Voiceover) EDS – managing the complexities of the digital economy.”
As with anything successful these days, there are knock-offs. IKEA, the giant Swedish furniture store wondered if they made a commercial with cats if it would be as popular. “Let’s do an experiment. Let’s take a hundred cats, release them in IKEA. Actually do it, for real, at night when the store is closed and let’s see what happens,” an idea man continued, “they might do nothing, they might run and hide under shelves, they might have one massive fight…” The most interesting part of this knock-off was IKEA management had no clue what would happen! Store managers simply released 100 untrained house cats into their Wimbley, United Kingdom, flagship store, and documented what happened on film.
The idea behind the new IKEA commercial, however obliquely, was to sell furniture and uses the company’s new tagline, “Happy Inside.” The advertising firm behind the commercial, London-based Mother, also released a “making-of” video that has proven to be more popular than the commercial itself, garnering more than 2 million views on YouTube in just the two weeks.
As predicted, there was some fur on the couches and linens, and there were a few kitty swatting matches. There was an effort to corral the wandering felines with partitions set up to keep the cats in certain areas, and of course, someone had to punch a hole in a hollow wall to remove a wayward cat that somehow managed to climb inside a partition.
Once the filming was to begin, someone had the bright idea to film “the making of” the advertisement. “The making-of clip, titled “Herding Cats,” is “an ingenious piece of media-advertising that includes its audience in the details of its own production,” The campaign was summed up with Ikea’s new slogan, “Happy inside” and “Oh look! Cats!”
According to the advertising firm, Mother, the commercial and the “Herding Cats” clip are “part of an integrated campaign with elements launched later, including an opportunity for IKEA customers to guess the piece of furniture a cat is sitting on to win the item. “The idea behind the work is that cats know better than anything what makes them feel happy inside, they live their lives in pursuit of their own comfort.”
At one point, they did lose a cat behind a partition, but, for the most part, the cats were playful, curious, and seemed to really enjoy roaming free in the store. The result was a commercial that was beautiful, heartwarming, and shows that the folks at IKEA do consider cats to be part of the family.
The IKEA “Herding Cats” can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q–2uiER1pw (sorry for the long, unskippable commercials prior…)
Original Sources (links may not still be live)
Arnold, Brooke. Catington Post. “Behind the Scenes: The IKEA Cat Commercial.” 05 Dec. 2013. Internet 30 Aug. 2016. <http://catingtonpost.com/behind-the-scenes-the-ikea-cat-commercial/>.
“Cat Herders.” Wikipedia. Internet. 30 Aug. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Herders>.
Harmon, Bradley A. Best Commerical Ever. 08 Aug. 2008. Internet. 30 Aug. 2016 <http://bradleyaharmon.com/2010/08/best-commercial/>.
“IKEA Parody of Cat Herders.” L.A. Unleashed: All Things Animal In Southern California and Beyond. 23 Sep. 2010. Internet. 30 Aug. 2016. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/09/ikea-store-cat-commercial.html>.
MaCleod, Duncan. EDS Cat Herders Herding Cats. 26 May 2005. Internet. 30 Aug 2016. <http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2005/cat-herders-herding-cats/>.