Mechanical Business Magazine introduced QR codes to its readers last year, and started including a code on its cover last November. Not sure if Mechanical Business was the first in Canada to do so, but I do know that Best Health was not.

What a lie, other Canadian magazines have been doing this for a while.

Gee, maybe their proof readers would have caught that. OOPS,they were tossed because they weren't needed. Sounds like RD is showing some cracks. That's what happens when you save money by getting rid of the experienced staff. It looks good on them!

Strategy magazine used a glyph on the cover of an issue back in 2009.

http://www.mediaincanada.com/articles/mic/20091030/arcover.html

I love the Best Health covers: so pretty!

Viva magazine from rive Gauche media have been doing their covers with QR code since April 2010. I think that they have been the most proactive to promote that technology as all the beauty editorial are supported by those qr code providing video content to their readers.

Viva magazine may be doing it, but they don't do it well. The content is mostly advertorial anyways. Nice try to be relevant though, Rive Gauche!

Best Health is def not the first to do it, but viva is not a measured/audited publication.

C'mon # 6. It isn't nice to promote your own magazine under Anonymous. Gee, I wonder who you are.... DUH!

Wow, some bitterness going on here, maybe we should keep the comments to critical review of the topics in our industry. Albeit #6 might be pushing their own agenda the major point of discussion here is the fact that Best Health is claiming to the be the first when there is plenty of evidence showing that they are not the first, showing how out poorly this press release was researched.

Sorry Designer. No, there isn't any bitterness. I'm just tired of how this business, a business which used to run itself at a much higher level, has decayed to the point it is now. We have magazines making claims which are untrue, as is the case with this story, we have publishers claiming circulation counts which everyone knows to be bugus, and the industry just allows it to happen without any response. I mean, let's look at the behaviour of some of the names associated with this very story. No wonder so many of the vetrans have walked away. As an old and dear friend said when she was retiring, and asked if she would do it again, "no, sadly the integrity and honour is completely gone. The industry is without pride". Sad but true.

I agree with not impressed. It's the bigger issue of making claims that aren't true. Why don't they focus on a clean circulation and readership rather than trying to sell the bells and whistles that in the end won't succeed without the loyal relationship of a publication's readers. Advertiser's see through this too and that's why they don't pay top dollar for these gimmicks. Stick to good editorial - don't be frauds.

Perhaps the editors at Best Health were just ignorant of Mechanical Business' covers (with is understandable). They probably didn't mean any malice.

In terms on the Viva covers (something closer to their category) they probably never saw any Viva cover with a QR code.I mean really, #6, in order for Rive Gauche to be "proactive to promote that technology" the magazine would actually have to make it to market on a consistent basis.

The real question here is the authenticity and integrity of publishers, period. Amazing how BH (and #6 for that matter) seems to think they're innovative. Remember how BH came about...reactionary to a dying RD. That's not innovation. And so, coming out with being the first to do this...well, perhaps in the RD world BH is the first to do this.

It used to be that if you were going to make such a bold statement ("we're the first in Canada") you had to actually check to see that was indeed the case. Many Canadian magazines have had QR tags on the cover, so even a junior intern would have discovered BH is not even close to being first to use one. I guess they don't follow those standards.

On another note, am I the only one who sees "Breast Health" ??? Maybe it's the font used on the masthead .... or maybe it's just me. This particular cover photo is pretty conservative ... a few previous ones not so much, which may contribute :-)

The fact that Best Health is boasting they are the first in Canada to do this really decreases their credibility. How can readers trust their health advice when they are making false statements like this? What else haven't they thoroughly researched?

Clearly, it's a mistake, but that's no surprise given how editorial departments are asked to do more with less people.
What I like about this though, and what I think should be celebrated, is using the QR code to show a behind-the-scenes video of the cover and Tanya Kim giving a pilates lesson. This is giving the reader more content, and loyal Best Health readers will appreciate that -- I think it's thoughtful. Innovative? Maybe not (better to look to U.S. and U.K. publications for innovation), but at least they are using it to give depth to their content. While I'm suspicious of QR codes and their longevity, I do think that it's a step in the right direction. Being able to provide the reader with more content than can fit on a page is a fantastic opportunity, and, if done correctly, will hopefully restore some of that "honour and integrity."

To anonymous 16, editorial and PR are two different areas of a magazine that don't necessarily share staff. To say that one unfortunate press release discredits the entire magazine is, frankly, hyperbolic, and an insult to the staff who work hard to put the product together each issue. Is it embarrassing to the brand? Certainly. Do QR codes have anything to do with health advice? I should say not. Let's not get carried away.

As to #16 and other posters who wonder about what is not being researched, as I understand it, Best Health -- being a RD product -- relied on RD researchers. Since that group was deemed "not necessary," I wonder just how Best Health -- and Reader's Digest -- checks their facts these days... And I wonder if advertisers consider this when they renegotiate invariably lower ad rates...

To 18: It's not just "one unfortunate press release," it's also editor Munday basically re-iterating the claim. And why on earth doesn't Masthead check, or add balance, to a story where someone is making such a claim? I realize they wrote it as "Best Health says it is the first," but, man, unless Masthead is purposely trying to generate comments in this forum, don't let them get away with such BS. This seems to happen a lot in Masthead...

WTF, perhaps top-level editor Bonnie Munday has more to do in running this overall great mag than micro-manage the PR team's fact-checking abilities. I agree with #18.