The Apple ad for the Olympics features a poem Human Family by poet laureate Maya Angelou
Shot entirely on iPhone, Apple’s new ad for the Olympic Games is a love poem addressed to the global family.
The ad is a kind of soothing balm at a time when racial, religious and political tensions are at dangerous heights worldwide. It sends out its own powerful message for peace and acceptance, in a gentle way.
While the ad is promoting the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, it focuses more on the meaning behind the words through a vignette of beautiful, diverse images of people.
The ad, entitled ‘The Human Family’, celebrates diversity and the fact that the world is more beautiful because everybody is different.
The ad is narrated in the form of a poem by famed poet laureate Maya Angelou “Human Family.”
The ad will air in the US tomorrow night (5 August) on NBC during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The abridged version of the poem in the ad runs as follows:
I note the obvious differences
in the human family.
Some of us are serious,
some thrive on comedy.
I’ve sailed upon the seven seas
and stopped in every land,
I’ve seen the wonders of the world
not yet one common man.
I know ten thousand women
called Jane and Mary Jane,
but I’ve not seen any two
who really were the same.
Mirror twins are different
although their features jibe,
and lovers think quite different thoughts
while lying side by side.
I note the obvious differences
between each sort and type,
but we are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.
We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.
Maya Angelou street art image via Shutterstock
