The idea behind a Quick Response (QR) code is pretty simple, even useful, when applied correctly. You snap a picture of a code and your mobile phone whisks you off to a web page – no typing necessary. The problem is that the vast majority of people have no idea what the codes are, or that they are supposed to interact with them.
Most people look at a QR code and see "robot barf", but marketers seem to think they are a must-have technology for their advertising campaigns. In their minds, eager consumers wander around with their smartphones, scanning square codes wherever they appear. As a result, the codes appear just about everywhere, and often in some really absurd places.
Being strangely fascinated by their misuse, we decided to collaborate on a Tumblr, wtfqrcodes, to document this ridiculous trend. We started the blog with about a dozen of our own pictures and invited visitors to submit their pictures as well. That's where we've gotten some of our best stuff – we've been amazed at some of the places QR codes show up. It's obvious that most companies just don't understand the technology ... and that's a recipe for some very funny posts.
There seem to be a lot of QR codes in subway stations or on subway cars, where there's usually no mobile signal – and without a signal the codes are worthless. One of our first posts shows an ad in a subway station that would require someone to climb down onto the tracks, carefully avoiding the third rail and oncoming trains, to scan the code.
Vehicles are also a popular spot for QR codes – race cars, delivery vans and freight trucks are some examples. We call these "moving targets". It's pretty funny (and scary) to imagine someone driving down the road, one hand on the wheel, one on the phone, inching closer and closer to the vehicle in front of them so that they can scan a QR code.
Then there are the roadside billboards where people are expected to scan a code from a moving car.
Some of the most surprising places we've seen the codes appear are on tombstones, rooftops, cupcakes, and condoms. Our most popular post shows a small plane pulling a QR code across the sky. The captions practically write themselves.
When we started the blog, we weren't sure how people would respond, but it seems we've definitely hit a nerve. We think it's because we're validating what people have felt all along – that the codes are there for the benefit of the advertiser, not the person scanning them and that, most of the time, QR codes are pretty stupid.
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