Get ready for the Superbowl! Though I am not talking about the game that observers say will be exciting and also I am not talking about the creative advertisement spots and the half-time show that are expected every year with equal suspense. You would wonder why, what I am about to refer to, would not be a candidate for the show Fear factor and perhaps it will eventually, when the excitement around the Superbowl has waned. Columbia Sportswear and Breakside Brewing in Portland are teaming up to create a new beer – called “Nature calls”. The image on the can features a bear – sitting on the “T” in “naTure” doing his business and the pile that results, forms the letter “A” in “nAture”. And indeed, as the news outlets illuminate in their stories, the beer is brewed with black bear poop collected trailside in Montana. It is touted as a clean-tasting lager and will be offered during the tailgate party at the Columbia booth outside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. (The articles assure that it is 100% safe to drink!). I wonder who will yield the call. It could be necessary to sharpen ears and tong with other beers enroute to the Columbia booth. Stepping back a little bit it made me wonder though. The relationship of men and nature has a very long history and surely hunting for bears must have been one of the more challenging endeavors. If I can trust the books of my childhood, many years ago in the native American tribes a successful bear hunt was celebrated and the hunters cherished. Also, the book told me, that tradition had it that as the meat was prepared the hunters were offered to eat the heart and the paws of the bear to lend them strength and courage – virtues that are commonly attributed to this wild animal. Fast forward to 2026 and I need to wonder, when people will drink this beer what virtues it is going to lend them.