Curly's smoked meats

I'm not sure what this product is, but it looks like some kind of pre-cooked barbecue meats in plastic containers. But that's not important. What matters is the QR code and whether Curly's uses them right.

As you can see from the image, the code is pretty big, just over an inch and easy to scan. It's a plain code without any interior logos or colors. And underneath it says, "Scan the code with any smartphone for savings and recipes."

All codes should tell what they do and give some information about how to use them. Until everyone becomes comfortable with what QR codes are, this is still necessary and it's good to see it here on this ad.

The code also says, "This is NOT a coupon." Some companies use codes to distribute coupons and this code is letting the user know there might be additional steps involved to get some discount coupons for this product.

So I scan the code and it links to a shortened URL, http://tpqr.us/?id=121. The root site for that links to Think Patented Analytics and it redirects to http://curlys.com/sb/ which is a beautiful little mobile site. What I really mean is that it links to a mobile site, which is the beautiful part.

I was curious so I played with the tpqr address by changing the id= to see what I'd get. Interesting, all the different companies that show up.

From the Curly's mobile page, I can touch "all recipes" and go to another mobile page for some of the products, and then touch each one for a list of recipes.

This a great use for a QR code. Because recipes help mobile users while they are out shopping. While I have the recipe open on my phone, I can see what I need and shop from the list of ingredients.

Rating: 4 1/5 codes.