Yesterday, the developers of an app called LIVR began cold-calling tech writers. The pitch was fun! A social network you can only access when you’re drunk, thanks to a breathalyzer accessory. If it seems like the platonic ideal of SXSW catnip, that’s because it was engineered to be exactly that. LIVR is a hoax.

We were first contacted by LIVR yesterday morning in the form of a press release sent to our tipbox. Heaven forbid you ever be exposed to press releases in your lifetime, but suffice it to say LIVR’s was convincing, full of the nextify 2.0 jargon that makes everyone hate Silicon Valley:

LIVR acts as a biometric bouncer to a global party. Before gaining access, users first must blow into a plug-in breathalyzer and demonstrate a minimum BAC (Blood Alcohol Content). All users on the network must achieve a minimal level of intoxication thereby guaranteeing that all users logged into LIVR at a given time are in a similar state of mind. As a user metabolizes their alcohol, they must drink more and re-check in.

The app included features like Drunk Dial™ (the trademark was a nice touch) which randomly connects two inebriated souls, and Truth or Dare, which “connects users to crowd sourced activities daring them to accomplish a task, earning LIVR points when they do.” Crowd source. LIVR points. This all sounds about right.

via The LIVR Hoax: Everybody’s Favorite New Drunkbro App Is Fake.