We almost ended up with a bull's-eye bar code

For some time some esoteric lunatics in mostly german-speaking countries believed that bar codes radiate “harmful radiation” or “vibrations”, either permanently or when scanned. Don’t worry how that works, they're lunatics, after all.

Then some genius started selling a magic “bar code suppressor” for 20 €, which those lunatics can use to make that bar code harmless.

It was a permanent marker. To “suppress” a bar code you simply draw a line through the bar code.

And then some manufacturers started printing that magic crossline themselves on their packaging. It doesn’t harm their bottom line, it still scans and they still can sell to lunatics.