QR Codes Beginning To Be Included On Condoms

After reporting on the expanding use of QR Codes in other areas, I did not think there would be too many other uses which would be surprising to us. That has changed today after I read about the use of QR Code Condoms where they are encouraging those using them to record their "activity" location. While there are varying opinions, the use of condoms to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies is supported by a wide group of people. So it should not be a surprise when planned parenthood came out with this new promotion. It takes the idea of a QR code and combines it with a location check in which one could see as similar to Foursquare. This is something which is unique and most certain to draw some attention to it.

The QR codes on each individual condom package will, when scanned. send the person to the Wear Did You Wear It web site. This is truly a new and unique usage of a QR code. It comes from Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest. They had distributed 55,000 condoms a few weeks back to colleges and universities in the area with the QR codes included on them. Given the growing popularity of QR Codes, it is not a surprise that people did scan the QR Code. That process directed them to the Wear Did You Wear It web site. The check in web site lets people enter information anonymously and there is very little information collected, but does include location, age and gender along with some other drop down lists to chose from.

The check-ins show up on a map on the website that is searchable by gender, orientation, approximate age, location, and other filters. In the past week the response has been incredible. Check-ins have come in from 48 out of 50 states and from six continents!

The resulting list of collected information may be meaningful to some and is collected data which can be used to attempt to interpret "activities". Given that they are already collecting information from 6 continents and 48 of the 50 US states, they have a body of information already. Distribution of the QR Code condoms in other areas of the US or international locations is going to add more data to the collection they already have been able to gather. You can go to the site and view the results interactively by filtering on the results based on the categories they have. All of this is being reported by ZD Net.

Not only can the encounter be recorded on the map, but proud teenage Tweeters can send their link out in to the Twitterverse, or Facebook fans can make sure everyone knows what they’ve been up to.

In this mobile world where younger age groups have grown up with social media communication, this becomes a natural fit for them and this one is likely to expand that collection of information much further. The use of QR Codes in this endeavor is a unique one and looks to be very successful.