JC Chasez Talks Joining a Cat Boy Band for Meow Mix & Reveals Why He’s the Least Active in the *NSYNC Group Chat

Besides being a beloved pop icon, JC Chasez is also a lifelong animal lover.

That’s why teaming up with Meow Mix was a natural fit for the *NSYNC superstar. In a new advertisement for the cat food brand, Chasez joined a different kind of boy band — full of cats. The group brings back all the 90s nostalgia by transforming Meow Mix’s original 1980 jingle into a perfectly harmonized, quintessential boy band pop hit.

In the commercial clip, the five-piece furry group (a.k.a. The Catty Five) performs sleek choreography while dressed in coordinating denim and all-white outfits. Chasez comes in halfway through the jingle to belt out some serious “meow, meow, meow” ad libs.

“I was made to host The Catty Five,” Chasez tells Billboard with a laugh. “I grew up with cats — and dogs to be fair. I’m an animal lover in general. So, I loved the Meow Mix idea. Of course, there’s a lot of 90s Nostalgia going on right now, so putting a 90s spin on the longtime jingle was so fun.”

The star also gushed over how “cute” the final product is. “It’s so good. It’s the sound, right? You automatically go back to that era. They they nailed the sound of the era.”

“Thanks to the brilliant Meow ReMix creative from incredible agency and brand partners in Publicis, BBH, and JMS, BCL Entertainment knew that the talent had to be legendary,” Bettie Levy, talent producer of the campaign and founder and CEO of BCL Entertainment, said of the new collaboration in a press statement.  “Beyond JC being part of one of the most iconic boy bands of all time, his interest in engaging in and contributing to unique campaigns made this partnership so natural and authentic.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to release the latest installment of our Meow ReMix campaign” added Peter Defries, GCD of BBH USA. “When we were tasked with launching the wet-food range, there was only one genre that could really bring it to life – the rain-soaked boybands of the 90s. And when JC Chasez came on board, we knew we were sitting on another hit.”

“Our latest campaign honors Meow Mix’s storied heritage while also bringing new cultural relevancy to the brand,” said Gail Hollander, chief marketing officer of JM Smucker’s. 

The Meox Mix boy band-themed spot comes amid a particularly fun renaissance for boy bands in the music industry, with K-pop groups like BTS and SEVENTEEN dominating the pop landscape. “I want more!” Chasez says.

Besides the emergence of new boy bands, classic groups like Chasez’s own *NSYNC have been getting a second life on TikTok. In particular, a page called @justice4jc has been going viral on the platform, spotlighting the 46-year-old’s impressive vocal range and giving him the “credit & recognition he deserves,” per the user’s bio.

When asked if he’s seen the Justice for JC movement, Chasez admits that he hasn’t personally been following it, but has been told about it by some of his friends. In fact, he hasn’t had much time to scroll on TikTok, as he’s been immersing himself in writing musical theater. “There are similarities [between writing a pop hit and musical theater songs] and there are some some very big differences,” he explains. “When you’re writing a single for something, you’re just looking to write about what you’re feeling in the moment. When you’re working on a musical, there’s alwaysa bigger picture and the story is always the driving force. I would say, in pop music, you can live in the moment and not be worried about what you’re singing about in terms of it not working with another piece.”

He continued, “What really attracted me to it lately is that there’s such a human experience in live theater. There’s no hiding. There’s no AI up there. There’s no dirty tricks. It’s people up there giving you everything in that moment. So that’s what’s really been fun about.”

So far, Chasez has written two plays — a coming-of-age-story and one that’s a “bit more serious” and “beautiful” look at humanity. “It’s kind of like the last thing that I haven’t really dabbled in,” he says of theater. “I started in television, then I moved into music and I made a couple of films. Now it feels like this is the last untapped thing. It’s nice to experience all sides of it.”

Lastly, the singer gave his official response to fellow *NSYNC member Chris Kirkpatrick’s claim that he’s the least active in the boy band’s group chat. “I don’t have an official response, because it’s true!” Chasez says. “They go off on tangents, man. It happens in waves, like, the chat will be quiet for a couple of weeks and then somebody chimes in with something and then everyone’s riffing on that. I get my piece in there, but they get they get chatty.”

Watch the new Meow Mix commercial here.