At the heart of the ad is a powerful voiceover taken from the film Dead Poets Society, delivered by Robin Williams.1, 2 The message centers on a simple but profound idea: every individual has something to contribute a “verse” to the larger story of human experience.1
Technology as an extension of human potential
Visually, the campaign moves through a wide range of environments, from natural landscapes to artistic performances and scientific exploration.1 The iPad appears across these contexts not as the focus, but as a quiet enabler: a tool used to document, create, analyze, and express.
This framing is crucial. Apple is not selling a device in the traditional sense, it is selling the idea that technology can amplify human capability. The iPad becomes a kind of “extended mind,” supporting both emotional expression and practical innovation.
A shift from consumption to creation
At the time, tablets were often perceived primarily as consumption devices used for browsing, watching, and reading.3 This campaign actively challenged that perception by showcasing the iPad in creative and professional contexts: filmmaking, music composition, education, and exploration.1, 3 The message is clear: the iPad is not just something you use, it’s something you create with.
Source: TheApple Nerd Youtube
Between inspiration and grandiosity
The campaign’s tone is deliberately elevated, almost poetic. For some viewers, this makes it highly inspiring, aligning with Apple’s long tradition of emotionally driven storytelling. For others, it borders on being overly dramatic or self-important.4
But regardless of interpretation, the strategic intent is evident. In a competitive market with alternatives from companies like Samsung and Google, Apple uses this campaign to reinforce a higher-order positioning: not just as a technology brand, but as a catalyst for human creativity.3, 4
A continuation of Apple’s brand philosophy
“What Will Your Verse Be?” fits seamlessly into Apple’s broader brand narrative, one that consistently connects technology with creativity, individuality, and cultural contribution. Rather than defining value through features, the campaign defines it through meaning: what users can do, create, and become with the product.
Written with AI assistance, edited by a human. Find out more about our Use of AI.
1. AppleInsider, Daniel Eran Dilger, "Apple debuts new iPad Air ad highlighting real users' stories", 12 January 2014, off whitelist and used for corroboration only, for the iPad Air spot "Your Verse" carrying a voiceover by Robin Williams "reciting a monologue from the movie" Dead Poets Society, for the passage in which Walt Whitman wrote "you may contribute a verse" and its closing question "what will your verse be?", for the scenes the spot cuts through, from storm chasing climatologists, mountain explorers and the remote capture of footage of a waterfall to Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia, a performer applying makeup, a marching band practicing choreography and musicians playing live, and for the uses detailed on Apple's Your Verse page: the Bollywood filmmaker Feroz Khan of Agra, the Beijing rock band Yao "tapping out beats via iPad", a classroom in Humla, Nepal, using the solar powered education toolkit "School in a Box", and Josh Apter filming at Iguazu Falls, Argentina. No whitelist source describing the voiceover and the scenes was found. https://appleinsider.com/articles/14/01/12/apple-debuts-new-ipad-air-ad-highlighting-real-users-stories
2. Wikipedia, "Dead Poets Society", consulted on 8 October 2026, a reference source under the Brandvelle whitelist, for Dead Poets Society being a 1989 American film with Robin Williams cast as John Keating. The article does not mention the Apple advertisement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Poets_Society
3. TechCrunch, Darrell Etherington, "Apple Gets Serious About The iPad's Creative Power In New Ad", 12 January 2014, for tablets being "still seen largely as consumption gadgets" at the time, for the ad showing the iPad in creative capacities, as a filming accessory, a prototyping tool, a means for writing and a tool for work in the depths of the ocean, while taking it "to the far corners of the earth", and for the perceived quality of Apple's tablets as a weapon in the company's "ongoing battle with Android slates". The article names neither Samsung nor Google; it reports the ad airing during the NFL playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers. https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/12/apple-your-verse-ipad-ad/
4. Fortune, Philip Elmer-DeWitt, "Apple's newest, most 'poetic' TV spot: What the critics are saying", 13 January 2014, off whitelist and used for corroboration only, for the divided critical reception: praise such as "effective and pretty powerful" (John Paczkowski, Re/code) and "beautifully shot and gorgeously produced" (Rene Ritchie, iMore) against "typically over-reaching, bordering on hyperbolic" (Paczkowski), "over the top and out of touch" (Ritchie) and "a little overdone" (Jay Yarow, Business Insider), and for Daniel Eran Dilger's comparison with Google and its Nexus tablets. https://fortune.com/2014/01/13/apples-newest-most-poetic-tv-spot-what-the-critics-are-saying/
