Pepsi use Pongr for their X-Factor competition

A really interesting new competition from Pepsi in the US tells us a lot about how mobile is used, and the future of QR.  It's arguably a nail in QR's coffin.

Pepsi are the sponsors of X Factor in the US.  They have produced special bottles with the Pepsi and X Factor logos side by side.  All you have to do to enter the competition is take a photo of the logos with your phone, and email the picture to TheXFactor@Pepsi.com.  You can see some of the pictures here.

Pongr 'Snap and Send' technology will recognise qualifying pictures, and send you back a link with a reward, like a behind the scenes video.

I really like this because it's so easy.  Assuming you've got a smartphone you just need to use the built in operating system to email a photo.  No external apps to download - Pongr does the work, not the user.

According to recent data from Nielsen, only 1 in 7 Android users has a barcode reader on their phone.  I'd guess this would be comparable across operating systems, so it's far better to use built in technologies on the phones, rather than a QR code or similar.

Charlie Brooker summed up his feelings on QR at the weekend - and while I like QR in some situations (it sends you to a specific place, unlike mobile search) it can be very fiddly.

Also - what happened to the technologies from the PepsiCo10 companies, which are being incubated by Pepsi?  Are any of them being used in X Factor promotions?  If no, why not?