By M. Christian

YNOT – QR codes and condoms have come together for a very good cause.

Quick Response, or QR, codes are the next generation of bar code. Currently hot marketing gadgets in Europe and Asia — and becoming more popular in the U.S. — QR codes are used not only in lieu of price tags at points of purchase, but also to link real-world consumer items to virtual “extras.” Often, the links lead to more information, online samples or interactive marketing materials. One snap with a camera phone and a QR code can open a URL or email.

As reported by Live Science, Planned Parenthood has been using QR-coded condoms in a unique, and so-far very successful, campaign to increase awareness of safer-sex practices.

Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, as part of National Condom Week, distributed some 55,000 condoms to universities and colleges in Washington State. Each condom was QR-coded so users could participate in creating a safe-sex map. The project, Where Did You Wear It, combined technology and peer pressure in a way to which condom recipients responded with gusto.

“We hope the site promotes discussions within relationships about condoms and helps to remove perceived stigmas that some people may have about condom use,” said Nathan Engebretson, Planned Parenthood’s media coordinator.

Engebretson also indicated Planned Parenthood kicked off the Where Did You Wear It initiative with university students because college represents many young people’s first time away from home for an extended period. It’s a time when many folks form sexual habits that will last throughout their lives, so getting university students to use condoms increases the likelihood they will engage in safer sexual practices ever after.