QR Codes have recently been picking up pace. They are getting adopted by an ever growing number of firms, including some big names like McDonald's. More from the article:

A new “QR Code” on McDonald’s packaging will let you pull up the nutritional information on your camera phone. Right now, McDonald’s QR codes are being rolled out in Japan.

From Calorie Lab:
Known as a QR Code, these printed codes look somewhat like a barcode and are scannable by many photo cellphones. All sorts of information can be packed into these little codes, from the website to find the amount of calories and fat in a Big Mac to a company’s contact information on a business card.

Scanning the QR Code on any of 19 sandwiches, eight sides and five salads brings up a URL, which will take customers to the nutritional information for the food they are eating. Customers will be able to view the amount of calories in their meal, as well as the amount of sodium, fat, protein and carbs. Information is available both for individual items and meals. Customers can also find out about allergy information, though it might be a little too late by the time you’ve already purchased your meal.

Obviously, as noted in the arctile itself, having it on the packaging of the meal doesn't go very far in helping people with their meal decision. It's good that you can get the nutritional information, and it's a step in the right direction, but still lacking..

I wonder if they are also putting the QR codes on the McDonald's Menu. That's a totally different experience and much more helpful to the consumer, because on top of providing access to such useful information, it also gives you the opportunity to learn more about what you want to order -- before you're expected to do it. It helps in forming an opinion, which is a much more useful service, and breaks the barrier of a purely-informative service.

This would give meaning to the interaction, because, admittedly, I have to wonder how many of the McDonald's customers would actually care about nutritional info, after they've already purchased their meal.

On the other hand, give parents this type of information when they're ready to decide what to buy for their children, and you have a much better chance of success and acceptance.

I mean, kids love McDonald's, right? I'm sure many of us used to as kids -- only to be told off by our parents because it was junk food, and it wasn't good for us. Now McDonald's can change that. Not just by providing nutritional information, but by providing it to the consumer at the point in time when it is useful.

I'm sure more parents would care less about taking their kids to McDonald's (saving themselves some of the fuss -- those of you with kids probably know what this means!), if they could pick their kids' meals based on the nutritional information, rather than just find out about it later on.

I realize McDonald's are making quite an effort recently to pass on a "healthy food" profile, but it is also in their best interest to choose their marketing moves wisely: successful mobile marketing campaigns are much better than mobile marketing campaigns just for the sake of the headlines.