Meow Mix Casts Cats as a '90s Boy Band, the Tabby 5

A few years back, J.M. Smucker’s Meow Mix reimagined its iconic, repetitive jingle in styles such as metal, R&B, country and Latin dance. Oddly, that campaign overlooked Clinton-era boy-band beats.

Never fear, they’ve finally arrived. It’s something you must see before you die. Or before logging off, at any rate.

The (adorable? horrifying?) Tabby 5 headlines fresh work from PSONE and BBH. JC Chasez of NSYNC—rocking whiskers, and kinda cat-like these days—also stars.

Those “Meows” really click in this genre—and Chasez’s yowly high-notes nearly steal the show. This act should tour with Pringles’ prog-rock hamster. But who’d be top cat on the bill?

“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,” says BBH USA group creative director Peter Defries.

The work plays into adland’s mega-nostalgia obsession so hard. We get the branded “meows” (introduced nearly 50 years ago), plus the whole boy band send-up. (Already mined in recent months by AAA Insurance.)

“When director Ulf Johansson first pitched the idea of using puppetry to bring our cat boy band to life, we totally thought he was messing with us,” Defries tells Muse. “But that’s the genius of someone like Ulf. They come at an idea from a completely different perspective, to create something unique. What we achieved with this painstaking puppetry process is something that we never could with CGI or the stress of literally herding cats.”

As for the spot’s human co-star, “Chasez was not only the ultimate professional on set but gave the campaign an element of authenticity we otherwise never would have had,” says Alan Wilson, also an agency GCD. “When it came to the dancing and singing, he didn’t hold back.”

That’s true, and he really rocks the cat moves for this social-media blitz:

@meowmix Take it from @JC_Chasez — great songs are only half the battle. Tabby 5 needs moves that move the crowd, too. #MeowReMix ♬ original sound – Meow Mix

@meowmix The voice, the moves, the style — if you’re a fan of @JC_Chasez, you’re gonna love Tabby 5. Just ask the man himself. #MeowReMix ♬ original sound – Meow Mix