Non-alcoholic beverage start-up Lyre’s turned on augmented reality (AR) to educate people about its products and party like the “social animals” that are the brand’s mascots.

‘Social Animals’ are made to match each character on the bottle of non-alcoholic liquor, with the AR animating them to tell the story in the virtual world. Lyre’s Impossible Bar via a QR code on the bottle neck.

Named after that legendary Australian mimic, the lyrebird, the critters kept coming as the company created drinks with the various flavors of gin, whiskey, vermouth, amaretto, absinthe, rum and others, as well as a range of ready-to-drink pre-mixed non-alcoholic cocktails, from an Amalfi spritz to rum and coke and G&T.

The company was founded in 2019 and raised $37 million last November with a valuation of $500 million. The range is now available in more than 60 countries.

Lyre’s chief marketing officer Paul Gloster said the Impossible Bar is all about learning how to make the perfect non-alcoholic drink guided by a social animal.

“Lyre’s is making it easier than ever to take your favorite drink and turn it into a non-alcoholic Lyre’s, using new technology to bring the brand to life,” he said.

“We wanted to push the boundaries of what’s possible from a marketing perspective, put the consumer in charge and expand our digital interactivity, by using Alexa and augmented reality to add more brand depth and information to make it a hands-on experience, not just a cool bit of tech. Both pieces lead into the ‘how’, with drinks and recipes that we know people around the world will love, using Lyre’s non-alcoholic drink.”

The Lyre’s Impossible Bar follows the introduction of Amazon’s Alexa’s advice to keep the cocktails flowing.

By saying “Alexa, open make it a Lyre’s”, people can follow Alexa’s directions to make their favorite cocktail, without booze, at their own pace. The Amazon platform even plays background music to help set the mood.

The lyre AR