IBM One of the largest information technology companies in the world , International Business Machines Corporation ( IBM ) was founded in 1888 and continues producing computer technology . In 1965 , IBM commissioned a series of industrial films from Jim Henson , who worked alongside IBM ' s film and television head , David Lazer . The films were a mixture of motivators and sales reels ( spotlighting IBM ' s typewriters , early word processors , and other products ) and comedic break shorts , intended as icebreakers during long meetings . A notable example of the latter is " Coffee Break Machine , " in which a prototyped Cookie Monster consumes an exaggerated talking computer . These shorts in effect were the first Muppet Meeting Films , which would be made available to any corporate client ; some of these later entries were direct remakes of the IBM shorts . Films . Rowlf the Dog films . Several of the 1966 - 1967 IBM industrial films , for internal use , featured Rowlf the Dog . One had Rowlf singing " My Way , " as an early example of Rowlf playing the piano . Another featured Rowlf introducing IBM ' s new Hippie Products Division ( HPD ) , including a complicated IBM electric guitar . A more elaborate film , divided into three parts with a conclusion , has Rowlf joining IBM as a salescanine , to the surprise of the Office Products Division sales head ( " What do you mean we hired a dog ? " ) Rowlf recounts his business adventures in a letter to his mother , as typed on a succession of IBM typewriters . Rowlf struggles to make a sale ( his ethics causing him to actively flee a customer who admitted to looking at another typewriter in a store window ) but he remains optimistic and dogged . A series of commercial spoofs to sell IBM follow , directed by Rowlf himself , spoofing the campaigns of Doublemint , Timex , and Avon . Finally , Rowlf succeeds in meeting 100 percent quota and enjoys a trip to the 100 Percent Club gathering . In another film , Rowlf writes to the head of his department , having devised a way to pep up their annual summer review of the company rules ( which he had fallen asleep during ) . He envisions himself starring in an IBM " revue " , where he plays the joke - telling emcee , a soft - shoe duo ( The Brothers Rowlf ) and a singer who performs the big closing number ( backed up by four of the Ideal Rowlf puppets ) . At the end , it is shown Rowlf is writing the letter as a way of passing the time while locked in the meeting room . Coffee Break Machine . 1967 film called Coffee Break Machine featured an early version of Cookie Monster . The Paperwork Explosion . 1967 film called The Paperwork Explosion directed by Jim Henson and featured no Muppets . Explosion . Early versions of Leo and Grump appear in this meeting film , which was later remade in the 1980s . Kermit ' s Stepping Stones to Success . Kermit and Beautiful Day Monster in an early version of " Leo and the Monster . " The Snow Job . Leo gives a motivation speech about helping his fellow employees , claiming he ' s not " snowing " anybody . The conference thinks otherwise and soon , he finds himself deep in a blizzard . Unfinished films . According to The Jim Henson Company Archives , Henson started production on four additional films for IBM in the late 1960s . These films were entitled " Excluded Mean " , " The File Clerk " , " The Crowd " and " Unpredictable " ; it is unknown if any of these films were ever completed . According to a curated entry of the Jim Henson ' s Red Book blog : Watson . In 2016 , IBM and Sesame Workshop announced a partnership to develop personalized educational platforms for preschoolers employing IBM ' s Watson computer . In September , IBM released a commercial featuring Watson on Sesame Street conversing with Elmo , Cookie Monster , Abby Cadabby , Grover , Big Bird and several kids . In January 2018 , Big Bird and Oscar , and the numbers 9 and 5 ( puppeteered by Ryan Dillon ) , appeared in an IBM commercial set to the Dolly Parton song " 9 to 5 . " Their cameo was filmed on July 1 , 2017 .