In Apple’s Holiday Ad, Tierra Whack and Her Tiny Twin Show Off the Potent HomePod Mini

When Apple debuted its HomePod voice-activated assistant in 2018, the model blew the world’s collective thoughts with “Welcome Home,” its advert aimed toward constructing buzz across the system. The Spike Jonze-directed spot starring FKA twigs turned an immediate traditional and was named one the year’s best ads by Adweek.

Now, with the debut of the extra compact HomePod Mini, Apple and company TBWAMedia Arts Lab are again with an advert that continues the sooner spot’s theme of how music can increase your temper. This time we don’t get the extent of mind-bending visible results seen in “Welcome Residence,” however we do get an uplifting platform for one more rising star: American rapper and songwriter Tierra Whack.

Slightly over 2 minutes lengthy, “The Magic of Mini” reveals Whack returning to her residence in a dreary state, her scarf dragging alongside the chilly grey sidewalk (a painful visible for any metropolis dweller). However quickly her HomePod Mini provides a colourful, miniature model of herself to the equation, and her temper rapidly improves.

The spot serves because the model’s vacation advert for 2020. The number of Whack because the advert’s star is harking back to Apple’s prescient selection of Billie Eilish for its 2018 holiday track, shortly earlier than Eilish turned a worldwide family title.

Whereas that 2018 vacation advert was a detail-rich animated tale of the artistic spirit, final yr’s Christmas spot took a more emotional and real-world turn by displaying how an iPad might convey three generations of household collectively in an surprising approach.

This yr’s advert lies someplace between the 2, mixing a state of affairs from on a regular basis life with magical surrealism. It was directed by Fairly Hen’s Calmatic, who additionally helmed TurboTax’s “All People Are Tax People” Super Bowl spot from Wieden+Kennedy Portland.

Apple is understood for being a model with an eye fixed for rising musical expertise, with the highlight this time going to Whack. Two of her songs—”Really feel Good” and “Pepper and Onions”—are featured within the advert.

The 25-year-old, multitalented musician has collaborated with among the largest names in leisure over the previous two years, together with being featured on the 2019 Beyoncé-curated soundtrack The Lion King: The Present. She additionally appeared alongside ASAP Rocky and Tyler, the Creator on Lil Yachty’s track “T.D” earlier this yr.

To accompany her 2018 debut album, Whack World, Whack additionally created a stylized, hypnotic 18-minute “visible and auditory challenge”: