Startup company Mobeam has patented technology that will allow barcodes to be scanned from smartphone screens at checkouts. The point-of-purchase possibilities are endless for coupons and other far more fun advertising promotions. Plus, it's way better than replacing every checkout scanner in the world. To pimp it, Portal A created this heavily Auto-Tuned supermarket musical, in which a frustrated cashier bursts into song over the wonders of Mobeam. It includes an obligatory rap, a talking fish and a dancing janitor. The video is goofy in the extreme. What it lacks is a compelling subject. Outside of advertisers, no one's really sitting at home thinking, "What I wouldn't give for a mobile solution for the hassle of using paper coupons!" Most of us don't get beyond, "Sweet! A coupon!" in our daily internal coupon monologue. Hopefully, they can tap into their core demographic: those extreme couponers on TLC who stink of the horrors of fanaticism.
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