Tech: Snapchat was trying to build excitement for a mystery announcement, but totally blew it with a simple error (SNAP)

Snapchat mistakenly revealed a partnership with the legendary artist Jeff Koons, bungling what appeared to be an attempt to create suspense and anticipation.

Snapchat mistakenly revealed a partnership with the legendary artist Jeff Koons, bungling what appeared to be an attempt to create suspense and anticipation ahead of a big announcement on Tuesday.

The new feature appears to involve digital images of Jeff Koons iconic artwork, such as the balloon dog, which Snapchat users will be able to overlay onto the real world through the app's camera — the company's latest effort to weave augmented reality technology into its service.

Snapchat employees started cryptically tweeting the webpage art.snapchat.com on Monday with a countdown timer that was scheduled to end around the time Snap CEO Evan Spiegel steps onstage for a rare interview at Vanity Fair's New Establishment conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Here's what the countdown clock looks like:

It turns out that it's easy to see what's behind the timer by simply setting your computer's clock forward. The hidden webpage details a partnership between Snap and Jeff Koons that will show his famous art installations as 3D objects in Snapchat's camera.

Here are some of Snap's images showing Koons' artwork around the world:

And here's a shot of Koons in front of one of his bulbous dogs:

As part of the announcement, Snap appears to also be giving other artists a way to have their work shown as 3D objects in its app. The website includes a signup form asking artists to submit their work:

Snap didn't immediately return requests for comment.

Snapchat mistakenly revealed a partnership with the legendary artist Jeff Koons, bungling what appeared to be an attempt to create suspense and anticipation. Read Full Story