Why the ridiculous 'Elf Yourself' app is dominating the App Store

TechInsider/Magic Mirror LLC

Like it does every year around this time, an app called "Elf Yourself" has climbed to the top of the App Store charts. 

For the uninitiated, the "Elf Yourself" app, which is actually an ad for Office Depot/Office Max, does exactly what it sounds like: It turns you, and your friends, family, and my colleagues, into dancing elves.

And it's hugely popular. As of Wednesday, it was the number one free app in Apple's App Store, soaring past popular apps like Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Snapchat.

There's a good reason why: it's ridiculously entertaining, especially when you use pictures of your colleagues, like this:

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This is what you see when you first open the app.

You can take a photo with your smartphone's camera, or use one from your camera roll, Facebook, or Instagram. 

When you tap "take a photo," it defaults to the selfie camera, because obviously you're going to want to elf yourself.

Take a photo of your colleague.

Here's Alex Heath, Tech Insider's apps reporter, ready to be elfed. 

Then position the face of the future elf so that it's perfectly aligned.

This picture of Alex is actually too low, as the app recommends putting the dotted line over the person's mouth.