Taiwanese man tattoos functional barcode on arm, successfully uses it at convenience stores

He's living in the future.

Adelene Wee | December 06, 2022, 05:30 PM

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A Taiwanese man who tattooed an e-invoice app barcode on his arm recently went viral for his antics.

Images and videos of his functional barcode tattoo were shared on a Taiwanese social media and networking platform, DCard.

The post was widely received and garnered 9,048 reactions and 742 comments on DCard.

A hassle to use his phone

According to the post, the man came up with the idea of tattooing the barcode of his e-invoice app account as he found it a hassle to whip out his phone whenever he needed to make a purchase.

People in Taiwan are using e-invoice platforms to collate digital receipts from their daily purchases. Such platforms bring convenience to users as they would be notified when they win merchants' promotional lucky draws, and it is a more environmentally friendly option.

In his DCard post, the man thanked his tattoo artist for being spontaneous enough to fulfill his bizarre request.

The man emphasised the importance of getting a conscientious tattoo artist who can mimic the barcode as close as possible, as a difference in the length of the barcode lines would result in the tattoo being unusable.

Image via

Image via

The post also included videos of the man getting cashiers to scan his barcode tattoo at gas stations and convenience stores.

Not recommended to follow suit

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by 彫貴桃 (@tattoo.tau)

Despite the overwhelming response, his tattoo artist warned users against tattooing barcodes on their skin, as the lines tend to fade over time and the barcode will not be functional when that happens.

Online reactions

The unique tattoo was met with mostly positive comments from other DCard users and some of them were appalled by the design.

Here are some comments left on the man's post:

“If any of the lines in the barcode becomes thicker or thinner, you can't use the tattoo. This tattoo artist is great."

"Can you still use the barcode tattoo if you become fatter or thinner? Hahaha"

"Can you tattoo your LINE ID QR code in the future?"

Top image via.