Trick or Read: UNICEF now using QR codes for digital donations

Ah, yes! The UNICEF box. An important part of the Halloween routine. After you got your candy, you'd get a handful of pennies in that flimsy cardboard box. Then you'd bring it back to school for rolling and counting.

Via Polite Dissent

I haven't spotted as many UNICEF boxes at my door in recent years, and I was wondering what had become of the "children helping children" charity. After all, it's not like a handful of pennies buys much these days, even in the developing world.

Turns out that UNICEF Canada discontinued the program five years ago because "Coin is very labour-intensive."

Is that the end of the tradition everywhere? The Cause Marketing blog today answered my curiosity: UNICEF USA has gone high tech.

"...the United States Fund for UNICEF has embraced a slick new way for kids to Trick or Treat for UNICEF. 

Today kids can Trick or Treat for UNICEF, raise good sum of money and never touch a single nickel of it. 

This Halloween the kids can print out a canister wrapper like the one at the left which features a QR code. When people scan the code using their smartphone they can make a direct donation to UNICEF 

What if the person who answers the door doesn’t have a smartphone or the necessary QR reader? 

Well a persistent Trick or Treater also knows that people can text “TOT” to UNICEF (864233) to make a $10.00 donation to Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. The $10 will be added to donor’s phone bill."

I'm a little skeptical about this approach. While QR codes have become a ubiquitous part of the print communication landscape, shortening the gap between it and the digital world, some feel they have already jumped the shark. Will the average suburban mom or dad really whip out a smart phone at the door?

The texting plan, however, is much more likely to work based on my experience with the medium.

And what about the whole healthy competitive aspect? We used to compare the weight of our UNICEF boxes when we brought them into school. It was part of the fun.

If someone is going to donate $10 per text, they are maybe going to do it once for the entire night. The donations would then no longer be a matter of how many kids came to the door with boxes. One exposure to the QR or TOT code might trigger an end to the night's donations. How will the other kids feel when they are told they're carrying the boxes for nothing? And how many dishonest but polite people will say they already gave?

I think it's great that UNICEF is embracing change. But I think they've lost their connection with the kids. The money was only part of it for us. What was really important was the reminder, during a night of gluttony and greed, of how lucky we really were. I hope that is not lost on today's Halloweenies.

Is this student Victoria's Secret QR tease good targeting?

Ad students really do have all the fun, mostly because they don't have real marketing departments, focus groups or pesky old budgets to get in the way of single-minded creativity.

This one from Miami Ad School (via I Believe in Advertising) takes a nice angle on the basic promise of expensive lingerie: that it's actually sexier to wear a little bit of fashion than nothing at all. And then it uses QR codes on apparently naked models to sucker (presumably) men into spending time with the message.

As I said, I presume the target is men who will then be aroused into buying VC frilly underthings for their beloveds.

According to Wikipedia, "Victoria's Secret was started in San Francisco, California, in 1977 by Tufts University and Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus Roy Raymond, who felt embarrassed trying to purchase lingerie for his wife in a department store environment."

But that was the '70s. What about now? According to the She-conomy blog, 85% of branded purchases are made by women. And sales are up at VC. Are those increases still being driven by men who want their wives or girlfriends to look like underwear models?

A case study for an online campaign (found on Slideshare) implies that men are still the target. However, a couple of years ago VC also launched "PINK" — a line targeted directly at teen and pre-teen (!) girls.

This is where I will give the opinion that these student ads are off. Because while sexy print ads, catalogues and online fashion shows attract aspirational female consumers as well as horny dudes, how many straight women are going to publicly lift up their iPhone at a billboard in the hope of seeing another woman's bare tits and ass? It's a pretty exclusive appeal. And I'm betting that young women are the brand's future.

As a publicity stunt though, admittedly it would keep the brand in the headlines.

What do you think? Are men still buying most of the lingerie?

"Smartmouth" QR pinup ads: ironic or lame?

Rebecca, a designer colleague, sent me a link to this out-of-home campaign from Honest Agency:

40s-style pinup girls with QR codes over their mouths?

Unfortunately, the agency didn't give enough screen resolution to actually read their lips in the portfolio page. But through the magic of the interwebs, I was able to get the link below. It goes with the woman in red:



The acting is pretty appalling, and considering this is for an ad over a urinal, I can't imagine:

1. Whipping out my camera phone while standing with other men who are peeing. That in itself is an ass-kicking offence. You're not even supposed to talk or make eye contact,

2.  Holding it over an ad with my one free hand.

3. Not being embarrassed by having the poster talk about my junk.

If you don't even want to watch the video, these transit (?) ads tell you all you need to know about the trashy copy style:

You see, guys, compliant women of your grandmother's generation won't have sex with you unless you have hair. Because they like their sex the way they like their hair. Or something. Hair.

The man with the QR code tattoo

I really have nothing against tattoos. I don't have any, though. I just can't think of any images or words that I want to have permanently embedded in my skin.

There are tattoos that celebrate momentous life events, such as the birth of a child. There are others that mark membership in a group. And still others are expression of aesthetic tastes.

But if there's one thing I would never, ever advise anyone to get a tattoo of, it's a two-dimensional electronic code that is currently trendy in smartphone marketing, but which will become obsolete in a year or two.

But this guy didn't ask me my opinion:



Oh well, at least he had his three minutes of fame. And it could be worse.

I see bangs in your future...

Augmented reality ghetto blaster

Nice.



By Berlin artist Sweza.

Via Animal NY

A QR Haiku

CK QR AR FTW

My colleague Lynn sent around an interesting link yesterday. Apparently, Calvin Klein has revolutionized outdoor advertising by running a billboard in major US cities that is just one big QR code:


(Pic taken from Ottawa Citizen)

This 2-dimensional barcode, similar to the Mobio one we used on our iheartmom campaign, is read by camera phones (with the right apps) to unlock online content.

In the case of the Calvin Klein billboard, it was this "uncensored" content:



Not exactly shocking stuff, but I'm sure it will get people with the right technology to check it out. And in advertising, getting people to take the time to interact is everything these days.

As well, this mashup of two hot trends — QR and augmented reality (AR) — is newsworthy in itself. It doesn't matter if many of the people who view your ad don't have the time or hardware to view it properly. As viewers of Mad Men's new season opener are aware, innovation and guts in the marketplace generate its own PR rewards.