A Single Day’s Worth of QR Codes

I’ve become increasingly fascinated by QR codes. I don’t know what QR stands for, and I have no intention of looking it up, but I wanted to take a look at the QR codes that I’d see on a typical day.

So I’m in my last semester of university, so I live in a house with other people. That’s a bit of the old context for ya. I walked into the kitchen, and the first QR code of the day was on a pack of bottles of iced tea. Well, it’s just tea, not necessarily iced. You can put it in the fridge if you want, but these were just on the counter. Apparently I could’ve scanned the code for more food information, but I didn’t.

I turned on the TV because I’m evidently incapable of eating breakfast without it. Maybe I should reconsider my life choices. Anyway, an advertisement came on for a phone app that somehow helps you buy tickets to sporting events. A giant QR code appeared on screen, which facilitated the download of the app. I did not download it. If I wanted to buy tickets to sporting events, I’d go to google.com, then type “[sports team name] tickets,” and go from there.

As I prepared my breakfast, I noticed a Walmart receipt that someone had left on the counter. There was a little QR code on the bottom of the receipt. I’m not sure what it did, but does every Walmart receipt have a QR code on it? Do we need that? Why? That’s approximately a zillion QR codes a day, just from one company. It’s a bit overwhelming to think about. I guess they’re probably not unique to each receipt, but more general. Like it probably takes you to walmart.com or something. But that prompts the question: what person would know how to use a QR code and not know how to go to walmart.com? No one.

I only found one QR code in my own room while I was getting dressed. It was printed on the first page of a large packet I received in the mail. Apparently the bank that I use is going to be bought by a different bank, and they wanted to welcome me to the new bank for some reason. It’s funny because right under the QR code, it shows the URL destination. So again, I could just type that in.

Then I went to my university, where I was promptly bombarded with QR codes everywhere I looked. They were on bulletin boards and on posters in hallways and on COVID test vending machines and on normal vending machines and on shelves in the bookstore and on professors’ office doors and on random doors leading into random rooms in random buildings. I took a picture of every QR code I noticed, which came to 107, just on the university campus.

Being a university student, I think that I’d come across more QR codes than the “average person,” whoever they are, out there in the world. Maybe it’s you. That being said, I was still pretty shocked by the sheer volume of QR codes that were present in a simple day of pursuing a B.S. degree. To be fair, there were some duplicates. For example, someone had put up flyers advertising their photographic abilities to take professional headshots. But I want some unprofessional headshots! I saw a couple of those flyers, but I still counted them as part of my QR code total. 

Most of the QR codes promised “more information,” as if we needed any more of that. We have more information now than ever before. Enough! Some QR codes were related to upcoming events, and presumably you could scan the code to register for the event or buy tickets. That’s actually pretty convenient and helpful, I would assume. I don’t go to many events. 

The most memorable QR code from the university was located in the Arts & Letters building. I had to go there for a one-on-one meeting with my professor about my progress on my final essay [I’m gonna do it all on the last day]. One of the other professor’s office doors was completely filled with flyers, and one of those flyers had a particularly juicy QR code. An illustration of a human hand pointed to the code, and the flier urged you to point “your fancy smartphone at the strange agglomeration of black squares on a white field (or are they white squares on a black field? the mind boggles).” Cheeky! Seems others are fascinated by these codes as well. Nevertheless, I did not take the flier’s advice.

I went home for a quick little lunch. I made myself a pathetic little quesadilla. The package of tortillas had a QR code on it, and the package of cheese had a QR code on it. A full QR code meal right there. Then I drove back to the university. There’s a major intersection right outside my neighborhood. On one of the corners, a chain link fence separates the sidewalk from a bunch of trees, which separates the fence from a park, which separates the trees from whatever lies beyond. But that chain link fence is used for community announcements and information and stuff. I saw two posters with QR codes on them.

After all of my classes, I went to the gas station to fill up my car with gasoline. When I got there, you guessed it, I was greeted by a marvelous QR code by the pump. The code was doing its best to coax me into applying for a Shell credit card that would supposedly add fulfillment and happiness to my life. But I don’t want any more credit cards! No more!

Then I went to CVS to purchase a few items. Near the entrance, a display advertised some kind of handheld machine. The user is supposed to hold up the machine to their face, insert part of the machine into their nostrils, and then the machine is supposed to clean your sinuses, or something. The accompanying QR code promised a video demonstration of the device. But alas, I have no such need for sinus cleansing apparatus. The next display, with its own QR code, informed me of a rewards program with CVS. I don’t want it.

To be honest, when I’m in CVS, my mind goes into a strange state, and my senses dial down. I flow from aisle to aisle, like a drifter from town to town.

Anyway, there may have been some QR codes that I missed, but there was one posted right by the checkout. It would take me to a survey where I could rate the service at this CVS. I was tempted to take the survey and give five stars or two thumbs up or 10/10 or “excellent” or whatever was the highest. It’s a fine CVS, like any other, but I know that corporations place a weirdly high value on surveys and bullshit like that. So maybe it would help this local CVS and its workers if I did the survey. But I still didn’t. “Next time,” I deceptively told myself. I did notice a QR code on the container of protein powder that I bought. I believe that if my muscles got a little bit bigger, I would become happy somehow. Still a work in progress.

The QR codes/hour dropped dramatically after I left the university. I was scrolling through Instagram to pass the time. I follow the local Audubon… chapter or whatever it’s called. They made a post about a couple of events that they were coordinating. The post had two QR codes for more information on the events. It’s funny, of course, because I was scrolling on my phone, which I use to scan QR codes. A phone’s camera can’t scan its own screen, like a man can’t see his own eyes. 

Later in the evening I was trying to relax, so I prepared myself a snack and put a baseball game on the TV. The snack was pretzels and hummus, and the game was the Chicago Cubs vs. the San Diego Padres. The hummus container had a QR code for more information. What more information could there be? The ingredients are on there, the suggested serving size, the nutrition facts. What else could there be? My curiosity finally caught up, so I scanned the code. The code took me to a site that had the nutrition facts and the ingredients. 

Wow! Amazing! Just like the stuff already printed on the package! But this time I can click on each ingredient, and it’ll tell me what that ingredient is. For example, water is “a liquid with no flavor or color which is a major component of all living matter.” Hmm, fascinating!

The baseball game went on, and I was having a nice peaceful time, when a colossal QR code flashed on the scoreboard in left-center field. At Wrigley Field. The second oldest active Major League ballpark. What a meeting of the old and the new! I wonder what Chicago Cubs fans from the 1920s would say about QR codes. Probably something like, “Oh. Yeah. Technology advances over time, so I’m not surprised that it would advance greatly over a 100 year period.”

After the game, my day of QR codes was coming to an end. The last one was on a skincare product that I own. I’m trying to care for my skin, but skincare seems overly complicated. If it’s oily do this, if it’s dry do this. Wash your face this many times per day. Then someone else says no, that’s too many, just once. You need sun but not too much sun, use sunscreen if you’re in the sun for this time. No, that’s fine, actually. Oh, but that’s the wrong sunscreen, that’s made with some chemical acylic-sycylic dioxibenzophosphorenzanate, so don’t use that one. Exfoliate but not too harshly. But not too lightly either, cause you want it to actually work. Steam helps your pores but hot showers are bad. Take cold showers. 

I don’t know, I don’t really like it. I feel like, with other health stuff, it’s fairly simple. Eat fruits and vegetables, stay away from sugary snacks and drinks, stay hydrated, and exercise. Basic shit. Anyway, when I scanned the skincare product, it just showed me a four digit number. That’s it. No link to the website, no additional information, nothing useful. What’s the fuckin point of that?

In the end, I came across 124 QR codes in one day. It’s more than I had expected. A lot of them were impressively pointless. Especially the ones on food packaging. I have a really hard time comprehending the utility of a QR code in that situation. Many were basically just ads, which were fairly pointless in their own right. The more useful codes were for events, in my opinion. They can take you directly to the event registration form, instead of going to the organization’s general website, then searching for the event page within the site. It’s more convenient, I guess, but barely. The convenience gained is so minimal. 

The general idea of a QR code, using a handheld device to scan a little square out there in the world, gaining more information. It makes me feel like protagonist Samus Aran from the action-adventure game Metroid Prime, released in 2002 for the Nintendo GameCube. She explores ominous environments, scans objects for additional information, uses that information to traverse dangerous worlds and accomplish her goal. But in reality, QR codes are mostly just pointless.