QR Codes are Making a Comeback
And I’m not mad about it.
I was inspired to write this article about a month ago, when my dad and I went for beers on Father’s Day. Bar menus are a haven for germs on a good day; in the era of COVID-19, you might as well lick someone’s face mask. I noticed the QR codes taped to the table, the portal to our sudsy bliss, and I didn’t cringe. My surprise at this was notable.
I came home and tried to find the article I had written years ago about the ubiquity of QR codes and how they were a novel idea, but in practice were a waste of valuable real estate and I wished they would just die already. I’m sure that if I look hard enough, I’ll find a tweet of mine that hasn’t aged well. As a marketer, I have long hated QR codes.
The History of QR Codes
Let’s step back for a moment. QR (Quick Response) codes were not always used in marketing and advertising. This pattern of squares can be simple or complex, but they store a plethora of information that is unlocked when scanned with the right type of reader. They were originally designed in 1994 and found in manufacturing plants, designed to be read by automated equipment.
While they are still used in this context, the invention of the smartphone brought the QR code to the average consumer. Well, sort of. When QR codes…
