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Who knew faking barcodes could be so easy?
Some of you may remember when pranksters from Conglomco created a website that allowed people to download barcodes of various consumer goods, print them out, and stick them over more expensive goods at Wal-Mart, enabling them to buy at a discount. (The site was quickly shut down.)
And you may recall Packard Jennings, who has has created a variety of fake products and placed them in barcoded packaging at Wal-Mart. Storm motor oil, for instance, which "commemorates the spirit of our national priorities" and Mussolini action figures. The trouble with Jennings's creations, however, is that he didn't design functioning barcodes.
Ironically, that wasn't the case for an 80s compilation CD that uses a blown-up barcode as the cover art. So when customers of Tesco supermarkets bought "Electric 80s" (featuring winners by Tears for Fears and Duran Duran), and when salesclerks accidentally (!) scanned the cover art, the CD rang up as a much cheaper release. Not a bad deal for shoppers, though, personally, I'd rather have a Mussolini doll.
(Thanks to Becky Ebenkamp)
Posted by carrie on 08/17/2005 | Permalink
Comments
Another group in San Francisco called Together We Can Defeat Capitalism? had stacks of barcode stickers at a gallery show at New Langton Arts around 2000. Anyone was welcome to use them. A friend took one and put it on a case of beer. When the checker ran it, it came up as one can of Campbell's Soup - a nice nod to Warhol.
The TWCDC? site is pretty great, by the way, especially if you're running an older version of windows.
Posted by: Steve Lambert | Aug 17, 2005 3:00:01 PM
hey, thanks for the tip, Steve!
I might also point out that it's easy to get a barcode (digital file) for a specific product. There are a number of places online that can produce one for you; you just provide the number.
Posted by: carrie | Aug 17, 2005 3:18:17 PM
enjoy it while you can -- within a few years we'll have to be hacking creepy RFID tags. Actually, maybe it'll turn out to be easier than barcodes: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1628696,00.asp
Posted by: Damian | Aug 17, 2005 3:31:55 PM
Interesting thing about RFID tags is that one could use them to create all sorts of marketing "fun". For example, Nike could place them in shoes, locked and loaded, then "users" could be alerted when they walk by a "prize" whilst engaged in a Nike-sponsored scavenger hunt. Or, these same people could be guided along a path by the tags to a "secret" party location. Of course, this presumes that the "exit gate" format is replaced by a live or programmed host with a mobile RFID scanner situated at strategic points. You'll see. . .it will happen. . .dumb clucks will be tracked every step of their lives.
Posted by: Tod Brilliant | Aug 22, 2005 6:12:33 PM
