Duo, Duolingo’s Owl Mascot, Has Risen — And Admits To Faking His Own Death

By Heather Taylor, Editor-in-Chief, PopIcon

Every global citizen refreshing their social media feeds for updates on the recent, mysterious death of Duolingo’s owl mascot, Duo, has just passed the ultimate test. PopIcon had been closely following the story of the iconic bird’s demise which turned out to be, as we suspected, just a marketing stunt.

Remember how our suspicions were heightened by the questionable funeral procession? That validation feels good! No beloved brand mascot passes on from adland without other mascots in attendance to pay tribute. Even Duo himself shared in the caption, “Y’all really think I’d let a Cybertruck take me out?”

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGdOAZ6p6MJ

Touché, Duo. Now that we know this bird faked his death, the world is curious as to why it happened. Duo candidly revealed all in a recent Instagram Reel.

Killing One Green Bird With Two Stones

For a long time, Duo always had two main goals. He wanted to get Duolingo users to do their lessons and get the pop star, Dua Lipa, to notice him. But nothing he did seemed to be working and it was time to take drastic action.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGgiLStz7zQ

After calling up a “bootleg Jack Antonoff” (that’s actually Luis von Ahn, Duolingo’s co-founder and CEO), Duo devised a plan. He would get hit by a Cybertruck and pin the blame on one of his countless enemies named Jimmy.

Which Jimmy? Who knows? Duo let everyone speculate about his own self-orchestrated whodunit. It could be an employee named Jimmy that works for Duolingo or a nod to Drake and his infamous Jimmy Brooks character on the hit teen series Degrassi.

But here’s the thing. As realistic (jk) as Duo’s death appeared on video, he wasn’t too happy about all the brands that latched on to his demise as a means of hitting their own quarterly social media KPIs. What’s more, everyone was now paying attention to these brands and asking questions about what happened… hello?! This means nobody was doing their lessons!

It was time for Duo to resort to even more extreme measures, like asking for XP contributions. Do a lesson now to bring Duo back before it’s too late.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGMMDlFyZSb

But it all worked out. Dua even noticed Duo on social!

The video wraps with a warning from Duo. Even though he put the “fun” in “funeral” (is that… is that a thing?), the next time it happens it won’t be so fun.

Sure, this time around some people did get arrested (oops). Coffin merch needed to be created and sold (how else would Duolingo cover the Cybertruck expenses?!). Next time, it won’t be as humorous so just make sure to do your lesson.

You’ve been warned.

About the Author

Heather Taylor is the senior writer and editor-in-chief of PopIcon, Advertising Week’s blog about brand mascots. Got a pitch on brand mascots or want to wax nostalgic about characters? Drop her a line at howveryheather@gmail.com.