The problem is that 'me not wanting to ever see your ad again' is NOT quantifiable. Marketers can see the positive impact of QR codes but not the negative.
Thus by their metrics the more prominent the QR code, the more people who swipe it and the 'better' the ad performs. But it's very expensive to quantify the negative impact of the QR code. Advertisers would need to run focus groups, ask people if they saw the ad, what they remembered about it, what their impression was, etc.
So we find ourselves seeing more, bigger QR codes, even though people don't really seem to care for them.
Thus by their metrics the more prominent the QR code, the more people who swipe it and the 'better' the ad performs. But it's very expensive to quantify the negative impact of the QR code. Advertisers would need to run focus groups, ask people if they saw the ad, what they remembered about it, what their impression was, etc.
So we find ourselves seeing more, bigger QR codes, even though people don't really seem to care for them.