Duolingo’s mascot, Duo the owl, is dead. Okay, Duo isn’t really dead (we think), but the language learning app committed so hard to this bit that its CEO, Luis von Ahn, read a eulogy for this beloved green bird on TikTok.
As any fiction author could probably tell you, killing everyone’s favorite character is not a great way to get people to like you. And what’s the point of Duolingo’s unhinged startup marketing if not to get people to like the company so much that they will help generate that sweet, seductive shareholder value?
But Duolingo pulled off this admittedly cheeky stunt because Duo’s alleged cause of death is so specifically outlandish.
“As I’m sure you’ve seen by now, Duo was hit by a Cybertruck,” von Ahn said in the video. “And it looks like, in fact, every single character at Duolingo is dead.”
Since making this pronouncement, Duolingo’s monthly active Android users jumped 25% year over year worldwide, per Similarweb, a digital market intelligence provider. Similarweb also said that global downloads on Android jumped 38% the day after the campaign, and web searches increased by 58%.
Duo’s “death by Cybertruck” might very well be a distraction, but it gives people a way to channel their anger at Elon Musk’s empire at a critical time.
As Musk’s DOGE shutters foreign aid programs, consumer protections, and global health initiatives, people are looking for a way to the Tesla mogul’s oligarchical influence without succumbing to sheer exhaustion from how much is happening.
On Monday, Duolingo launched a campaign to save Duo from an untimely death — it’s “Duo or die,” the company says.
By completing lessons on Duolingo and keeping learning streaks alive, users can gain enough in-app points to “save Duo.” A website that charts the progress in resurrecting this fuzzy green friend declares that time is running out, but does not say when time will run out — presumably because they will just revive the idiosyncratic owl once the goal is met.
Believe it or not, Duolingo probably doesn’t want to kill off its highly successful marketing asset.
Duolingo’s aggressive engagement farming tactics are certainly annoying for some users. If you’re connected with another user on Duolingo, the owl might narc on your friend and tell you that Charlie is behind on his French lessons. But most startups are using these over-the-top marketing tactics too — they’re just a little less clever about it.
“His mission was clear,” the Duolingo CEO mourned on TikTok. “Make education accessible, one terrifying notification at a time.”
