RIP Duo: How the language app "killing" its mascot built its brand
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo: Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Language learning app Duolingo killed off its plucky mascot, Duo the owl, this week — creating a social media marketing moment that may have more sticking power than recent Super Bowl ads.
Why it matters: Duolingo has mastered not only helping people cultivate polyglot skills, but also the art of storytelling marketing and pushing the envelope in a brand's online presence.
- Completing lessons on the app could bring Duo back to life, the company said on Wednesday, in an apparent signal that the digital creature's death announced Tuesday might be a spoof after all. Axios reached out to the company for comment.
Driving the news: Duo "probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know," the company said Tuesday on X.
- It later shared a video of Duo being hit by a Tesla Cybertruck.
- "In lieu of flowers, please do a Duolingo lesson," another post said.
State of play: Firms ranging from entertainment and media to intergovernmental organizations joined the social media moment on X and TikTok throughout the week.
- Netflix shared a video of Duo's so-called elimination in the format of its popular Squid Games TV show, while accounts for video games "Halo" and "World of Warcraft" shared photos mourning Duo in their respective universes.
- Pop singer Dua Lipa responded: "Til' death duo part." The original announcement urged readers to respect her privacy (Not only do they have similar names, but in another bit, Duo proposed to the singer outside her concert in 2022).
- The World Health Organization speculated on Duo's cause of death. "One thing we know for sure," it said. "It's not smallpox, because the disease has been eradicated since 1980."
- The European Space Agency shared a photo of Duo in space with the caption: "Someone forgot their space suit."
Our thought bubble, from Axios' media reporter Kerry Flynn: Sometimes marketing stunts actually work. But this campaign's virality is a testament to Duolingo's long commitment to brand building by leaning into unhinged content and relatable conversation on social media and its own platform.
- Duo is not the first brand mascot to die around the Super Bowl. In 2020, Planters killed Mr. Peanut and he was reborn as Baby Nut in a Super Bowl commercial. This Duo fan hopes for a similar comeback for the green owl.
Zoom out: Duolingo's ad "hijacked" about 84% of the conversations that all Super Bowl ads were generating, impacting culture unlike any of Sunday's commercials, per Nathan Jun Poekert, an adviser to chief marketing officers.
- "We are in a media environment where ~$600M in ads (plus production costs) that made us laugh, touched our heart, created nostalgia, made us proud, made us angry — can instantly be erased," he wrote on Linkedin, "by a handful of social media posts…of a dead mascot."
- Young audiences feel connected to brands with a sense of humor and personality, youth culture agency Archrival said in a Friday analysis, encouraging marketers to engage audiences as "active participants, not passive viewers."
- "In today's cultural landscape of infotainment overload and hype-driven social posts, marketing has to be truly different to stand out as fresh," the agency said.
The big picture: Duolingo over the years has joined fandoms and pop culture moments to create "authentic connections" and build community with users, Inc. Magazine wrote last month.
- Storytelling and witty engagement are strengths of Duolingo's marketing team, setting its brand presence apart in a low-cast way, per Inc.
Go deeper: Super Bowl ads shift to health and body positivity
