QR Codes Are Alive and Well and Living in China

QR codes have been called many names. Ugly. Has-been. A failure. Marketing expert Scott Stratten even has a book out called "QR Codes Kill Kittens." But not so fast: In China, those checkerboard-like codes are enjoying a renaissance. That's thanks to WeChat, Tencent's hot mobile app, which has 272 million monthly active users and features a QR code scanner. WeChat blends elements of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and it's branching into e-commerce.