Sensational title aside, the key issue is identified a number of times in the article itself - creativity. They're not being exploited properly and as has been

Sensational title aside, the key issue is identified a number of times in the article itself - creativity. They're not being exploited properly and as has been said, what's the point in having a scannable code that does nothing more than redirect to a website? Firstly, it seems to be hard for these agencies to appreciate that someone scanning a code will want to see a mobile optimised site, not the standard one. Secondly, they need to add value, so make them do something the user will find useful (which most of the time isn't loading a URL). Eg. as contact codes on the side of taxis and on their posters; as SMS ones that prepare a text for you to sign up to a service or enter a competition, etc. Even those are basic but are a convenience. There are lots of things to do, but none of this means QR codes are failing (there's no solid evidence in the article to support that claim). Just that there's no imagination or actual thinking going on.