[NikkiA]

What this needs is a mitm service that gives shortened/custom urls like https://prom.os/paw_patrol_biscuits that redirect to the vendor's site, and when the promo/limited-run is over the url can be 'turned off' in a control panel and then default back to a 'This promotion has ended, but visit <vendors general site>' for more information on products' or such.

I guess it'd be hard to get companies to use such a service, except for situations that cause product issues like this one we're seeing.

[kevincox]

A lot of online QR code generators provide this service (often by default without making it clear that they are injecting their URL). It can definitely be useful to "change the URL" after deploying the code, but you still have the same problem that you don't control the domain. If you stop making payments or the company goes out of business then you are out of luck.

IDK if any of these services support custom domains. So that you could have qr.mycompany.example or whatever. That way if something goes wrong with the service you can at least direct it to something else.

But I think in general you should control your URLs. Especially for printed material. Often this would be something like a short URL or some other small name that can be directed to the intended final site and changed at any point.

[jahewson]

In other words, the biscuits need more shortening.