First mobile scannable postage feature Edith Piaf and Miles Davis.
The United States Postal Service has announced that it has issued new smartphone friendly QR code stamps that will include images of Miles Davis and Edith Piaf.
This new postage that can be scanned using a mobile device was released on June 28.
This new release also marks the first time since 1989 that France and the U.S. have jointly produced postage. In that year, it had been in honor of the French Revolution’s bicentennial.
Both the Edith Piaf and Miles Davis QR code stamps have the barcode printed on their reverse.
When smartphones are used to scan the quick response codes, they are redirected to a landing page, which provides the option to listen to Davis’s music, while viewing images of both of the musicians, and gaining access to an interesting timeline of their lives.
There are several different options on the landing page, which include a “Buy Now” button that gives the smartphone user the ability to purchase a range of different products, including the QR code stamps of Piaf and Davis in both their French and American versions. There are a number of sharing options available so that those who have scanned the postage can also share it over Facebook, Twitter, or email.
It has been suggested that videos may also be added to the landing site.
The two musicians were chosen because of their popularity in both nations. For example, though Edith Piaf is a Parisian singer, she is among the few musicians from France to become a popular enough to be considered a household name in the U.S. Equally, Miles Davis, the American jazz trumpeter, is much loved among the French, and had received a great honor after his many performances there, having been named a Legion of Honor Chevalier. The city of Paris also gave him a form of honorary citizenship when he received the Grand Medaille do Vermeil.
Ronald Stroman, the U.S. Postal Service deputy postmaster general, explained that with the QR code stamp issue for Davis and Piaf, “our goal is to encourage more people to learn about these artists and the unique form of musical diplomacy they practiced. Like the music of Miles and Edith and like the friendship between America and France, these stamps will last forever.”
