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Rick Martin · · 2 min read

Korea’s Emart Creates QR Codes With Shadows in Midday Sun

SunnySale

Photo: ibnet.co.kr

QR codes have been around for years now, most commonly used in countries like Japan. I often see QR codes here in restaurants, advertisements, and even on business cards. But I came across one very clever use of QR codes today over on the Communicate Asia blog, as Korean shopping center Emart implemented this in a brilliant sales promotion.

The company’s ‘Sunny Sale’ event is promoted using a large QR code displayed outside. As you can see in the video below, the company wanted to attract more customers during its lunch hour down time. To do this, they used the mid-day sun to create a QR code with shadows, which is then scanned by people who see it on the street.

In addition to the promotion itself, it’s also a very fun gimmick that is sure to grab more attention than just a large printed QR code. The code can only be seen during lunch hour, since the pattern of the shadows changes after that time.

Emart says it saw a 25 percent increase in its lunch sales as a result of the promotion, not to mention lots of media coverage too. You can check out the video below for more information.

Do you know of any other innovative uses of QR codes? Let us know in the comments.

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Rick Martin

Rick Martin lives in Tokyo where he writes about technology in Japan, China, and around Asia. After writing full-time for TechInAsia from 2011 to January 2013, he moved on to pastures new at The Bridge. He can be reached via his website, 1Rick.com