“I wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scanned it”

A zebra has stripes; some people have compared this to a barcode. “I wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scanned it” is a jocular saying that has been printed on several images.
   
“I wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scan it” was posted on Twitter by “milk” on November 2, 2011. “I wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scanned it” was posted on Twitter a few minutes later on November 2, 2011, and “milk” used this “scanned” version on Twitter on March 16, 2014.
 
     
Wikipedia: Barcode
A barcode is an optical, machine-readable, representation of data; the data usually describes something about the object that carries the barcode. Traditional barcodes systematically represent data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or one-dimensional (1D). Later, two-dimensional (2D) variants were developed, using rectangles, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns, called matrix codes or 2D barcodes, although they do not use bars as such. Initially, barcodes were only scanned by special optical scanners called barcode readers. Later application software became available for devices that could read images, such as smartphones with cameras.
   
Twitter
milk‏
@miilkkk
i wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scan it
9:41 PM - 2 Nov 2011
 
Twitter
gabrielle‏
@gecval
i wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scanned it…
9:45 PM - 2 Nov 2011
 
Twitter
ⓗⓐⓨⓓⓔⓝ‏
@hadiin_love
I wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scanned it..?
7:20 AM - 3 Nov 2011
 
Twitter
Buggin’ Out‏
@_Angel34_
RT @the_rico_show i wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scanned it
8:49 AM - 3 Nov 2011
     
Twitter
milk‏
@miilkkk
I wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scanned it
8:04 PM - 16 Mar 2014
 
Reddit—Shower Thoughts
I wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scanned it.
submitted November 3, 2015 by DoJax
 
Reddit—Shower Thoughts
How much would a zebra cost if you scanned it?
submitted Decenber 13, 2017 by [deleted]
 
Twitter
lorraine Jo King‏
@LahLahBean
#badjokethursday
I wonder how much a zebra would cost if you scanned it. 😏
7:21 AM - 1 Feb 2018