Calvin Klein Going QR Codes

This past weekend, Calvin Klein Jeans replaced three of its billboards -- two in downtown New York and one on Sunset Boulevard in LA -- not with another racy montage of scantily clad models, but with a bright red QR code under the words "Get It Uncensored."
Passersby can use their smartphones to snap a picture, which will pull up an exclusive, 40-second commercial featuring models Lara Stone, "A.J.," Sid Ellisdon, Grayson Vaughan and Eric Anderson. After the spot plays, viewers can then share the code with their Facebook and Twitter networks. The billboard marks the official premiere of Calvin Klein Jeans's Fall 2010 advertising campaign. Previous campaigns have debuted on more traditional venues, the company explained, such as broadcast and dedicated online sites.
QR codes are increasingly appearing in advertisements as a way to increase engagement with consumers. Although already common in Japan (where they were originally invented), they do not appear in many advertisements -- much less take up an entire billboard. Most U.S. citizens still do not own smartphones, and even those that do don't necessarily know what a QR code is or have the necessary scanning software to read it. Never fear I've found a software that does double duty download ShopSavvy Barcode Scanner which is available on Itunes as well as Android Market. For those without smartphones here is the link to the commercial. Calvin Klein Advertisement