It’s estimated that over 10 billion barcodes are scanned globally every day! If you’re not embedded in the barcode world, it’s easy to take for granted how these seemingly simple bars changed the way we identify, track, and manage items—from single-serving snacks and sample-size bottles to life-sustaining insulin and components bound for space.
The barcode is a testament to an innovation that has touched nearly every aspect of modern life, an innovation we celebrate every June 26th on National Barcode Day.
What better way to celebrate barcodes than highlighting their appearance in some of our favorite films?
From the Mundane to the Movies
Barcodes are ever-present in our daily lives, so it’s no surprise that they often show up in our favorite movies. While often used as a symbol of a dystopian future—e.g., in the movies Hitman and 12 Monkeys—we prefer when they are portrayed in a more fun way.
Barcodes on the Silver Screen
Below are some of our favorite barcode moments to grace the silver screen.
Back to the Future Part II
In the sequel to the 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future, the iconic time-travelling DeLorean’s vanity California license plate reading “OUTATIME” is replaced with a futuristic barcode license plate.
Idiocracy
We don’t know why barcodes appear so frequently in bleak, dystopian films, but we’re grateful for Mike Judge’s humorous yet foreboding vision of the future. In Idiocracy, Army Private Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson) enters a hibernation program but is left in suspended animation for 500 years instead of one. Joe awakens to a society that has gotten exceptionally dumb and must get the mandatory government-issued barcode tattoo used for identification and payment. Hilarity ensues.
Up in the Air
No one loves the efficiency of a barcode more than we do at Electronic Imaging Materials—except maybe Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), in the movie Up in the Air. Ryan is an ever-travelling, buttoned-up downsizing expert who extols the virtue of travelling light, both in real life and as a metaphor for how to live. While Ryan never scans a barcode in the movie, he proudly displays his barcode-equipped boarding pass on multiple occasions.
Go
The late-1990s comedy Go follows the intertwining story of three sets of characters. It also features cinema’s most euphoric scanning scene when Mannie (Nathan Bexton) fantasizes—in part, by the rhythmic sound of a supermarket scanner—about dancing to the Marcarena with the clerk. While Manny’s inspiration is substance-fueled, the team at Electronic Imaging Materials is naturally this intoxicated with labels.
Ted II
Ted, a living teddy bear, goes toe-to-toe with Liam Neeson over a box of Trix—specifically, whether the cereal is strictly for kids or if adults can buy it too? For barcode-enthusiasts, the tension is twofold: will Ted survive the encounter, and will he actually manage to scan the box?
Scanners
Ok, there are no barcodes or optical barcode scanners in this cult classic. Instead, scanners refer to human mutants with telekinetic powers. But, it’s called Scanners! And for those of a certain generation, it produced one of the most memorable scenes of the 1980s, which has taken on a second life as a GIF.
Employee of the Month
The pinnacle of scanning barcodes in the movies pits slacker Zach (Dane Cook) against multi-time Employee of the Month winner Vince (Dax Shepard). Featuring one of the most unforgettable scanning scenes ever captured on film, Vince and Zack go head-to-head in a scan off. The tension ramps up when two tires turn up without barcodes—obviously, nobody consulted the Label Experts!
Bonus Barcode from the Small Screen
Scanning has been a running gag in one of television’s most legendary shows, The Simpsons. For almost four decades, Maggie has been scanned in the opening credits. Originally, Maggie rang up at $847.63—the average price of raising a child in 1989, when The Simpsons first aired. In 2009, the intro was updated, with Maggie now doubling the total (from $243.26 to $468.52) when scanned, highlighting the rising cost of raising children while keeping the joke evergreen.
Electronic Imaging Materials, Inc. & National Barcode Day?
National Barcode Day is cause for celebration at Electronic Imaging Materials (EIM). Every beep is a reminder of the role of the modules and spaces in the simple barcode, which help do everything from tracking a package as it crosses the globe to checking out at the grocery store.
Looking for more fun barcode-related media? Check out this contribution from the small screen, a comical clip of Terry Crews using self-checkout on Studio C, a sketch comedy show from Brigham Young University. It’s worth noting that Terry Crews also appears in Idiocracy. Perhaps he’s as big a barcode enthusiast as we are.
