Thursday 8 March 2012

Quick Response on Condoms

Quick Response on Condoms sounds useful. However, not when it is refering to scanning a Quick Response code on a condom. 

Now I have seen some awesome applications of QR codes. Like Heineken at a music festival. While this is innovative I question this campaign. In fact, I have more questions than I can vocalize type.


Planned Parenthood is attempting to convince Americans that safe sex is happening all over the US, mostly the southern part of Canada and one person in Queretaro, Mexico. 

55,000 condoms were distributed in Washington State all with QR codes on them. Before you get busy, they want you to scan the QR code and clock in your location so that teenagers and young adults around the world know they are not alone in their desire to avoid children and Chlamydia. See the website the QR codes lead to.

The current metrics of this campaign are: the site has had 65,000 visitors and 4,500 check-ins. The metric I am most curious about is the conversion rate, what percentage of the 4,500 actually have sex after they took the time to scan the QR code? (Oh, marketing jokes).

The Huffington Post has pointed a fundamental error with this campaign. 70% of condoms are bought by women. While 60% of all QR codes are scanned by men. 

I question the last stat because Adweek reported that women’s magazines were the biggest users of QR codes. The article doesn’t actually say the women are using the QR codes so I suppose these two “facts” aren’t in conflict. If they are both true maybe Planned Parenthood and women magazines need to question their tactics.


Up date: CEO of Planned Parenthood was arrested for exposing himself (according to CHCH news). I hate that this will be used as ammo to continue branding birth control users as unethical, horrible humans. And Sir Richard’s Slut campaign was starting to fight back…

Not sure I believe that slut can be appropriated and made into an empowered term. In fact, I’m strongly opposed. But the ‘Slut Walk’ was a good movement.   


1 comment:

  1. Honestly...how many people would actually take the time to scan in before having sex? What does the guy say...."Hang on hunny...let me just scan this thing and log in our location before we continue any further"

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