When the language-learning app Duolingo announced the death of its owl mascot Duo just a few weeks ago, many suspected that it wouldn’t be permanent. The company and its users have a lot of fun with the character, and its presence on social media is thought to drive significant engagement among young users. It seemed unlikely the company could stand to lose this important asset for good.
In announcing the death, the company said the character had a lot of enemies, and it’s true that many people have a love/hate relationship with the owl. He will pester users who aren’t keeping up with their daily lessons with push notifications, maybe to the point that some feel it is aggressive. That has been the source of a multitude of playful memes online (like the one here) and even inspiration for Duolingo’s own social content. But no one doubts the messages are effective.
After the bird was reportedly involved in an incident with a Tesla Cybertruck and didn’t survive, the company posted a message to social media channels that garnered condolences from both individuals and companies, Netflix, A&W, and Chipotle among them. A funeral video has been viewed on Tiktok more than 64 million times.
Just about a week later came messages hinting that it may be possible to ‘save’ Duo, and eventually a link to a ‘bring back Duo’ site was shared. The count was on, and users across the world that did their lessons added XP, experience points, that eventually reached more than 50 million. That was enough to resurrect the character, after which more videos were posted, claiming the death was faked as a way to get people to keep learning. Experts point out that the whole stunt was in keeping with the personality of the owl, a bit extreme but always focused on encouraging users.
Duo himself claimed success in a post where he said he “put the ‘fun’ in ‘funeral,’” and achieved his most important goal of getting a mention by a celebrity with a similar name, Dua Lipa.
Activities:
- Ask students: Have you ever tried Duolingo? Have you seen the memes about the owl or other Duolingo characters on social media? Did you hear about the death of the mascot?
- Have students visit Duolingo’s Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@duolingo?lang=en. What content do you find most intriguing? What patterns do you notice in how Duolingo tries to engage its audience?
- Ask students to form small groups and create a meme using a character from Duolingo. Post the results to Tiktok or another social media channel and check for engagement.
Sources: Treisman, Rachel, (24 Feb 2025) Duolingo’s owl mascot is alive after all. What did it gain from faking his death?, NPR. Hamedy, Saba, (12 Feb 2025) Duolingo ‘killed’ off its mascot — and somehow captivated the internet, NBC News. Gagne, Yasmin, (08 Oct 2023) Why Gen Z is obsessed with the Duolingo Owl, Fast Company.
