Apple gets trippy with new Animoji karaoke ads

Hear ye, hear ye, all you lucky individuals that don't find Animoji extremely unsettling: in celebration of the upcoming Grammys, Apple has created two new ads that capitalize on the recent Animoji karaoke phenomenon.

For those of you who have somehow avoided the craze post-iPhone X release, Animoji are 3D emoji that you animate with your face using the X's front-facing TrueDepth camera. Almost instantly after they debuted, people found that if you record yourself as an Animoji lip-syncing to a song, you can then place the original track over the top of it, thus creating a "karaoke" video you can then share with your friends.

The ads feature the alien Animoji performing Childish Gambino's "Redbone" amidst a groovy rainbow kaleidoscope of unicorns, as well as the dog and fox Animoji going in hard on Migos' "Stir Fry" (accompanied, of course, by the infamous poo with eyes that everyone seems to really love). Both ads are based on the visual motifs put forth in their respective song's album art.

If you want to actually catch these ad spots on TV, you'll have to tune into the Grammys on January 28 to do so. Cleverly, the "Alien" ad is set to premiere directly after Childish Gambino's performance, while the "Amigos" ad will air after the Grammy is presented for Best Rap Album — an award which Migos is nominated for.

Thoughts?

Do you dig the new Animoji ads? Share your feelings in the comments.

Tory Foulk

Tory Foulk is a writer at Mobile Nations. She lives at the intersection of technology and sorcery and enjoys radio, bees, and houses in small towns. When she isn't working on articles, you'll likely find her listening to her favorite podcasts in a carefully curated blanket nest. You can follow her on Twitter at @tsfoulk.