In an amazing scientific and promotional stunt, IBM has made “A Boy and His Atom”, a fun little minute-long stop-motion movie made by magnetically manipulating single carbon monoxide molecules into the animated shapes of a boy and his playmate atom.
This little video production is charming and sharable not only because viewers may rightly be flabbergasted to see such a technical feat, but also because the scientists who made the short animation gave teeny personalities to the characters. The boy’s hair sports a springy cowlick as the perky atom bounces around, eventually zipping through the clouds to become the dot of the “i” in “THINK”, IBM’s famous slogan. Atoms then spell out the world’s smallest logo.
“The World’s Smallest Movie” lives on IBM’s site as well as on a smartly branded YouTube page, surrounded by other little movies documenting the scientists as they make the movie and discuss the reasons behind the molecule-moving tech (and that’s data storage research.)
This is all a great example of how a company can demonstrate the human side of the work they do, which builds an affinity for the brand in the hearts of consumers.