French Man Gets Interactive QR Code Tattoo

Real, fake or enhanced, this “animated tattoo” marketing video out of France appears to have worked as advertised: A tattooed lad with a desire for a QR code on his chest has received said body art, and it started moving.

Now yes, I hear you. Pitchforks down everyone. I realise that there’s nothing “new” happening here beyond the singing artwork itself, as both the QR code and the interactive app that opens a YouTube video are already well-known marketing tools used by advertisers in subways and magazines. It was only a matter of time before the body art community found a participant who was willing to animate their chest in the name of money (or, in this case, Ballantine’s).

In remarks made to Mashable, tattoo artist K.A.R.L. admitted as much, saying the appeal of this particular QR code tattoo lies more in the custom nature of the software than the tattoo itself. “What makes this tattoo special is not just that it links to an animation. It’s that we will be able to change the animation as time goes on. As Marco grows older and his ideas change, we can create new animations that link to the Matrix Code.”

I’ll stick with Wired Magazine QR codes, thanks very much. Besides, the next step in this evolutionary process will be far cooler anyway. Why bother with the phone at all when in 20 years we’ll have flexible, hair-thin screens and organic displays to embed into our skin instead?

And Marco, buddy? I sure hope you cleaned that phone before you used it to text your friends about the new tattoo. [CNET]

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