Cracking the Code

The first time I noticed a QR code, I was in a restaurant. The place had a self-serve soda fountain, and the code was on the side of one of the paper beverage cups. No accompanying text. No indication what the code would do. It was just there. A quirky, black-and-white cipher, haphazardly placed without regard for silly things like “aesthetics” or “cohesive branding.” It was an affront to marketing feng shui. But it was tantalizing. Where was this thing going to take me?