TAHLEQUAH, Oklahoma – What started out as a team-building exercise landed a Northeastern Oklahoma fire department in a video for a national company best known for its spaghetti sauce.

Firefighter Anthony Margarit posted a video to his personal TikTok account, after he and his co-workers filmed a blurb featuring Margarit cooking at Station 1, using Ragú sauce.

Ragú’s recent on-air ads have shown people using its sauces and saying, “Cook like a mother!” Margarit boasted in the video that he is, in fact, cooking like a mother.

“Ours doesn’t follow the Ragú commercial exactly; we just took bits and pieces we thought were fun, and we wanted everybody to be included in it,” said TFD Capt. Jody Enlow.

Enlow came up with the idea as a team-building exercise for his shift. His brother-in-law emailed the TikTok video to Ragú, and a company representative contacted Margarit directly on the social media app.

“They responded to him with their appreciation and enthusiasm, and said that they’d actually responded back to TikTok. We couldn’t get that response to load, and we realized they had just started their own TikTok because of it; they didn’t have any likes or any followers yet,” said Enlow.

Once Margarit began “following” Ragú’s TikTok account, messages from company showed up in his inbox.

“Just a ‘thank you’ was really cool, and since then, they’ve asked for our permission to use the video,” Enlow said.

Fire Chief Casey Baker said he will be going before the City Council in January to ask if the video can be used by Ragú, since TFD’s name and logo can be seen in it.

“The mayor has approved it and the city attorney has approved it, but it needs council approval,” said Enlow.

Tahlequah Mayor Sue Catron said department heads are always working to build their teams, and they frequently provide safety or process training to their employees. She said the Ragú video was directed toward increasing communication and creativity.

“When the results of this team-building activity catches the eye of a national company and their use of the video has the potential to highlight Tahlequah in a positive way, that’s a rare opportunity,” said Catron. 

The Tahlequah Daily Press was at Station 1 Tuesday morning, speaking with firefighters about the video, when a representative from Ragú happened to call. Margarit spoke with the representative and was told they will send a truck full of sauces and “other stuff” to Station 1 on Tuesday, Jan. 11. A representative with Ragú will also be on hand.

“I appreciate you guys very much, and we had a lot of fun ‘cooking like a mother,’” Margarit joked with the caller.