The extremely straight spaghetti

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

I like Bill's idea at 2:45 - the brand of spaghetti noodles I buy does have a "pasta window" in the box exactly as he describes, so that was my first thought as well.

[@SSWakaOkamiInu]

Same here

[@timothymclean]

I dunno about pasta where you guys live, but none of the stores I visit package pasta like sardines. It's too loose for any static image to consistently match the strands of spaghetti behind the pasta window.

[@Hazz3r95]

There's also barcodes on the prows of all Norwegian warships. It's so that when they return to port, they can Scandinavian.

[@grmpf]

I am in so much pain right now.

[@TCraats]

Still sad the complete episodes arent on here, but glad for the highlights! Keep killing it, Tom!

[@steamcastle]

Just listen to the podcast.

[@typhfab]

@@steamcastle listening to the podcast is less enjoyable than watching the video

[@leandervr]

@@steamcastle I'm deaf, so that's not really an option for me.

[@kartvyasheth2087]

@@leandervr 😂👍🏼

[@TypicallyThomas]

@@leandervr At the very least they should add transcripts. With everything else Tom does, it's all so accessible. Can't understand why with this podcast he's just not doing it even though there's a load of demand for it

[@jan_harald]

lmao, I first also thought of the pasta window, but as soon as he said "PERFECTLY straight, doesn't deviate even a millimeter, or it wouldn't work as intended" OBVIOUSLY a barcode, lmao

[@christianweagle6253]

"And I need to stop making answers like that in my authoritative voice." That is a lesson I had to learn, painfully, as I transitioned from a junior engineer who was not really listened to, to a senior engineer who was. I caused several junior engineers to head off in the wrong direction because I made a technical joke during meeting, which *I* knew was a joke, but they did not. Eventually I wised up and stopped talking foolishness, and adopted a rigid motto of "often glib, but never kidding".

[@ChlorideCull]

Laughing at your own jokes is usually a faux pas, but not in situations like that 😅

[@milesgould8288]

Bold of Tom to assume that he has a non-authoritative voice...

[@JdeBP]

The locating the barcode at the checkout problem at 5:05 is why a lot of Lidl and Aldi packaging has barcodes that go all of the way around the packaging.

[@zybch]

Had 'barcode' before Tom restated the question. More than a few products use their barcode as part of the design instead of a mandatory part of the packaging. I'd love to see more, though I'm sure with QR codes likely to replace them, I'm not sure how those could be incorporated similarly.

[@GaviLazan]

Why would they replace bar codes with QR? There's no need to. QR is for much more complex encodings, bar codes have enough complexity and variations for everything they'd need for product/supermarket needs.

[@aceman0000099]

A bar code is just a 10 digit number. That's enough for ten billion unique numbers, which should hopefully cover all the possible unique products in a shop. Even if it didn't, you could add another digit which gives you another 90 billion permutations.

[@ChlorideCull]

@@aceman0000099 Not just products in a shop - it's usually a UPC, which is *globally unique*. It's the same barcode, everywhere in the world.

[@ChlorideCull]

@@GaviLazan I know some of the medicine I get is packaged with a Data Matrix instead of a barcode - it's still simple to decode by a reader like a barcode, but since it's two-dimensional it can be absolutely tiny, 1 cm^2 on this packaging, for example, which helps with small packages like pill bottles.

[@GaviLazan]

@@ChlorideCull I see that on my pill bottles too but they all come in a cardboard box with a regular barcode where I live. I wonder if that's more for inventory at the factory or warehouse.

[@BigDavie2000]

I guessed this immediately . I've seen similar on other products, but I can't think what they were at the moment.

[@stevieinselby]

Sad that there's no picture of this packaging 😥

[@JDetailingca]

Copyright is a thing.

[@orwellboy1958]

Just Google it, I did🙄. I'm a sad person.

[@sledgehammer-productions]

Try googling "kaufland spaghetti" 😊

[@bbarreir0153]

You could just... Google it?

[@stevieinselby]

@@bbarreir0153 I could just Google anything I wanted, but when there is a video discussing a particular picture, it seems a bit lazy and unfriendly not to include that picture in the video.

[@Psalm15LifeGoal]

I always look forward especially to the episodes with Dani and Bill in them! Definitely a fan of Escape This Podcast and nearly everything Tom Scott produces, so this is the best of both worlds!

[@krisztiannemeth6148]

Citation needed! :) Google shows me lots of Kaufland spaghetti packages, but none of them is as described here. I'm disappointed! On other note, both my family and my colleagues love when I play this game with them with these same questions.

[@monojira]

Oh I have a box of these in my kitchen at this very moment! The brand is actually called "K Classic" (in house brand) and the barcode design is on the BACK of the green boxes of spaghetti that come with tomato dressing as well, not the loose plastic dry spaghetti. If you look for "k classic spaghetti barcode" you might find photos of the back of the packaging

[@ThreadBomb]

Same, google showed me nothing of specific relevance. None of the cooked noodles in the illustrations were straight. Even when I searched for "k classic spaghetti barcode". Starting to think this is a hoax! EDIT: I did find ONE picture called "The barcode on my spaghetti is spaghetti", but it's not in the middle of the rear of the package like Tom said; it's to the side.

[@whynotanyting]

"Barcode Spaghetti" gives an idea of how it looked, might not be official though. Sad it wasn't how I imagined it.

[@ElectariumTunic]

On the feta, in my local store, the barcode form the columns of a Greek style roof And on the Finncrisp crispbread, the barcode form tall birches that hides a deer.

[@andydoucette1680]

It's funny he mentioned the barcode district in Oslo, because all of Norway's naval vessels have big barcodes on the front so they can Scan-de-navy-in ;)

[@baksatibi]

Lidl has a few products that have a similar barcode design. For example some beer cans have barcodes that are shaped like a glass of beer.

[@user-vg8mc8yv4n]

Lidl and Kaufland are both part of the schwarz group so i would guess they have cross overs in their marketing teams 😉

[@macdjord]

My guess: The box had cooking instructions, with pictures displaying the pasta uncooked (straight) and cooked (messy tangle on a fork). However, because the local language writes from bottom to top, the 'before' picture was at the bottom and the 'after' was at the top.

[@charredolive]

These are the perfect videos to watch before lecture

[@alex.thedeadite]

I googled this at the start and the packages I found did not seem to have it. Curious what it looks like.

[@monojira]

Look for "K Classic Spaghetti Barcode". It's on the back of the green packaging. K Classic is the Kaufland brand.

[@donaldasayers]

Only watched the question, but it brings to mind a bag of compost with along the bottom of the packet silhouettes of plants. The grass stems are similarly very straight because they functioned as a barcode.

[@donaldasayers]

Which was all very well but the check out operator couldn't find the barcode to scan with the gun.

[@andrearusky]

why didn't you show this packaging (or at least a photo of it) at the end??

[@lateralcast]

We don't own the rights to the photos that are online.

[@nathanielhill8156]

In The USA, the in house brand for Walmart does this for all of their products. Many "Great Value" products have a barcode subtlety embedded in the product packaging.

[@whynotanyting]

One of the few episodes where I knew the answer and spent the rest of the episode figuring out a question to confirm I know it without revealing the answer too easily. Best I got was "Is it for identification?" but that feels too on the nose. This is why I don't give out clues.

[@goldenredstone04]

I'm proud I got this as soon as I heard it.

[@redstefan6515]

As somebody from Germany (the country Kaufland originates from, it is litterally just buying country in German) it was really fun to see them like guess the answer

[@dryued6874]

A few minutes in I thought the company originally sold rulers or measuring tapes, and the spaghetti turned into measurement marks.

[@xxgn]

The thumbnail for this video is great!

[@jensumayer]

Did anyone find a picture if the packaging that was the subject of this episode?

[@NFSHeld]

Being from Germany, I knew that one immediately. I think I remember someone used to do something similar with splashes of milk on their milk cartons. Can't find any pictures of that though.

[@pupeno3]

When doing self checkout I measured myself and it's faster to just rotate the product in front of the scanner until I hear the beep than search for the barcode (unless it's a product I already know in advance where the barcode is).

[@patcheskipp]

I don't remember who but I remember hearing about a CD that had a barcode on its cover art that when scanned would show up for a lower amount that the CD sold for.

[@michaelbronson7410]

I find funny how 43k people saw the title 'extremely straight spaghetti' and thought.. ohh how interesting! 😆

[@MuradBeybalaev]

3:07 I think got it. Barcode.

[@ChipsAndWires]

So is the purpose of the barcode in Oslo nautical? Do they use it to scan-da-navy-in?

[@Scott-i9v2s]

@lateralcast I love you saying "2 inches by 5 cm"!🤣🤣

[@SteinGauslaaStrindhaug]

0:45 Hmmm.. Does the lines of spaghetti in the illustration turn into the barcode?

[@SteinGauslaaStrindhaug]

This is like the 6th time in a binging session today I guessed the right answer within seconds of hearing the question... A couple of times I just assumed they all got it instantly and was just joking around, but then they seemed genuinely surprised by the answer, so I guess not... And a couple of times I dismissed my initial guess because it would be too obvious, but then it was right anyway. ... So I guess I safely can say I'm a lateral thinker as well in my upcoming autism assessment.

[@GaviLazan]

My guess before watching the video - it's because the second half of the package is a window so you're seeing the actual spaghetti and they have it in a way that the illustration and the actual product look like they are one thing. Edit: I see I was wrong, but now my guess is - it forms the bar code!

[@Aoderic]

Bill's suggestion of meatballs at 0:57 shows that he's American. Spaghetti and meatballs is an American dish, and is not commonly eaten outside the US. So linking Spaghetti with meatballs wouldn't happen in a German supermarket.

[@Scott-i9v2s]

I found an image of the messy part around the fork, & the spaghetti indeed *starts* to straighten out. But the image was not tall enough to get to the "barcode" part... 😞

[@nacoran]

I was thinking something else... I was thinking it would look cool coming straight out of the spaghetti machine (which would be evenly spaced), then up to being wrapped up on a fork. That would indicate freshness. Or, I suppose straight from the trees, like that famous spoof about the spaghetti crop.

[@RTitleySage]

Anyone else think with the Oslo bar code district Tom was setting up a Scannedinavia joke?

[@NaughtMax]

Bill and I had the exact same thought process, first with the window then the barcode

[@mavisp]

Gutted I've just seen this. I was in Berlin last week, staying 5 minutes across the road from a Kaufland. Now I want to go back and buy some pasta

[@LostieTrekieTechie]

At two minutes I realize it must be a barcode. Aldi expended to the United States a couple years ago and they have some barcodes that cover the entire side of the box.

[@Trebuchet48]

I figured it out before they did. So there!

[@Kyrelel]

And yet, if you look at a pack of Kaufman spaghetti .... it doesn't.

[@monojira]

K Classic Spaghetti has it on the back, not the front. It's the product Tom is referring to here

[@Slikx666]

Plymouth UK, we've got (unfortunately) a building called the barcode, it's not a barcode, it doesn't scan and it's very ugly. 🤢

[@TypicallyThomas]

I got it as soon as Tom said it never deviates even slightly

[@marceloleal1246]

Tom looks like a modern version of Mr. Darcy

[@Prometheus720]

2:13 I'm not sure what the true answer is but I'm guessing it is the bar code

[@matheuscastello6554]

i thought of the answer before the guests yay!

[@ieyke]

SUPPOSEDLY Walmart's store brand products now integrate hidden "barcodes" into their entire label design, so you can just scan any part of the label. BUT, I think so far it ONLY works for the handheld scanners that employees use to collect items that people ordered for pickup or home delivery. I don't think it works at the regular check-outs yet. But I'm sure it will soon.

[@BradfordHowen]

Not sure about elsewhere, but the US Aldi products usually have a barcode on every side for the same reason, speeding up the checkout process.

[@shavranotheferanox7809]

My first guess after hearing the question: its the barcode Edit: CALLED IT

[@pyrobryan]

It's the barcode? The clue that the strands have to be perfectly vertical for it to work made me think that.

[@kennfong]

I need to see this.

[@wyrdlg]

Well. The was an easy one. Bar Code. It's a bit a fashion where the barcode are integrated into the design.

[@Maxjoker98]

Kaufland translated from German would mean "buy land" or "land for buying". In some alternative reality, this could have been an exploration of their flag!

[@literally_not_kevin]

Being subscribed to the podcast on Spotify, I quite enjoy listening to the episode on my commute, then re-watching the clips here on YT on the weekends.

[@martinschmidt1652]

I had this after 1 minute, maybe because working with products

[@kavyavijay4953]

Got it once Tom said it wouldn’t work as designed if it wasn’t straight

[@JDetailingca]

I thought it was going to be some sort of timer to determine the doneness of your spaghetti.

[@Skull-in-the-house]

Why didn't Tom show US the pic 🤨

[@jennarhodes2724]

I got this one immediately, it was weird to wait for them to get there. Hazard of graphic design classes

[@ErnieZee]

Commenting at 3:02 without looking at comments. Is it a barcode? Edit: I guess I won something but why didn't you show what it actually looks like? :(

[@Lionkingview]

I knew the answer...but only cause I bought them before.

[@wholesome_lmao5624]

KAUFLAND MY BELOVED

[@DerMarkus1982]

0:30 Haven't seen the answer yet, nor the guessing. I believe that the spaghetti coming from the fork become the product's EAN-9 or EAN-13 barcode! I vaguely remember that from a place like r/hmmm or r/designp*rn, narrated of course here on YT by a channel persona like Daily Dose of Internet, FakeJake, EmKay, CaptainSparklez etc. Let's see!

[@sbsanan95]

We also have a barcode bar

[@antispeedrun]

My mouth is a pasta window. Of sorts.

[@scott_hunts]

I was going to say it’s because of gravity, hanging off the fork and all that….

[@destroyercreator9678]

"I'm smarter!"

[@nathangamble125]

My guess: it forms the barcode.

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Initial thoughts: it turns into the UPC barcode, and so needs to be straight.

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Spot on.

[@JaapvanderVelde]

All this, but no image?

[@tgypoi]

What a hypermarket?

[@poja82]

Is the code

[@arcanics1971]

I know this one!

[@alveolate]

it's no longer barcode. it's spaghcode.

[@SamuraiGuy]

If Tom Scott on safety third is like seeing your teacher in a night club, is this like seeing a stripper at school?

[@Ken.-]

They call spaghetti pasta noodles over there?

[@lateralcast]

It's a common term used by chefs on both sides of the Atlantic, but especially in Germany since it comes from "nudel". The noodle you get in noodle soup is also technically a long strip of pasta.

[@mortuos557]

stuff i never noticed buying noodles in Kaufland.

[@fonkbadonk5370]

German native here, where Kaufland comes from. I've been shopping there for the past 10 years, and am a fan of cheap good pasta. I have NO idea what you all are talking about. They just have your generic packs of 500g of spaghetti with a generic barcode on their packaging's backs, with no fancy forky noodely designs attached. I'd love it, but never seen it.

[@lateralcast]

I think it's an old version of the packaging. Images can be found online.

[@fonkbadonk5370]

@@lateralcast Telling me that I'm too young in my 40s has never been as charming :) Love your stuff btw. I've been an avid follower ever since your long haired computer and language days

[@Wildrichfull]

Google (The barcode on my spaghetti is spaghetti)

[@nonsoamulu4654]

Show us the spaghetti

[@edopronk1303]

Halfway; Barcode?

[@28russ]

Haha, I worked it out before the smart people 😁

[@markusklyver6277]

I'll wait for bisexual spaghetti.

[@gamingcookiereal]

lasagna is pan

[@theadamabrams]

"But Chloe, I'm straight." / "So is spaghetti until it gets wet."

[@punkdigerati]

I felt like Osman was asking about that exact idea, was shot down, only to be right.

[@GamePlague]

I'm surprised nobody figured it out right after he said they had to be perfectly straight to work. As someone who has scanned a lot of barcodes I figured it out while he was still reading the question.

[@JoeBleasdaleReal]

Very specific bugbear of mine: referring to spaghetti, macaroni or any other pasta product as “noodles”. Sorry…are we having ramen or bolognese? I once heard someone say “lasagne noodles”. They’re BLOODY RECTANGLES. Where are my Italian peeps at?

[@Omni315]

The pasta pahsta going on is really bugging me 🤣

[@deanewalpole9577]

Grow up

[@joeyunderwood]

this was frustratingly obvious to me

[@joejacksom9831]

You can't make a video like this and fail to reveal the packaging at the end.

[@racosphinx]

I wonder if this is more of an American thing? Fairly common here for about 5 years, I was surprised no one had seen this before.

[@TypicallyThomas]

As a European I was surprised too

[@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369]

is it because its a clear thing that showcases the pasta inside? ok lol pasta window

[@MuradBeybalaev]

A big lot of manufacturers do this kind of thing. Picking this specific brand to mention smells a bit like an ad.

[@personwritingthings]

I've been seeing so much complaining and bickering under all the videos about the full episodes thing, and it's unbelievable to me how entitled people think they are to free entertainment. Tom is trying to make a podcast, posting the full videos would make podcast promotion useless. That's as simple as it gets, get over it. On my end, I love podcasts and this is one of my faves, it's smart and a great time. Thanks!

[@Michursky]

barcode

[@caramelldansen2204]

My guess before watching the episode: German flag?

[@caramelldansen2204]

Damn.

[@PsyKeks]

ouhf. Here in Germany we don't put our flag on everything, especially brands don't - unless soccer world championship is on 😆 I bet you can guess, why most of us don't find that kind of thing very tasteful? 😅

[@Rheaded]

Dude if i turned on captions my captions changed the color did anyone got this

[@schilling3003]

That's actually a really bad idea, not just because people get confused scanning the product, but also because barcodes have very strict requirements to ensure maximum compatibility. I doubt this design incorporates a proper dead zone around the barcode.

[@js32096]

figured it out at 3 minutes in and skipped to the end. Too frustrating to watch, once you've figured it out