Duolingo Killed Off Its Owl Mascot. RIP Duo.

Duolingo just did the unthinkable: it killed off Duo, its iconic owl mascot best known for pestering users to get off their lazy asses and learn French.

The language-learning app has seen tremendous growth over the past few years, largely due to people becoming bored during the pandemic and the app’s simplistic approach to learning new languages. Gamifying the learning process really made it accessible to everyone.

Now, though, the company will move forward without its mascot. Or not. It’s certainly possible that Duo faked his death in the grandest guilt trip of them all.

“It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that Duo, formally known as the Duolingo Owl, is dead,” the business wrote in a statement. “Authorities are currently investigating his cause of death and we are cooperating fully. [To be honest], he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know.”

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As I’m sure many can relate, my first thought when reading the post was that this was a joke being used to set up a marketing campaign. Had this been announced last week before the Super Bowl, it would have automatically been expected it was setting up a million-dollar commercial that would solve the crime or something. Doing it after the Super Bowl, though, could be a stroke of marketing genius. Less competition and all that.

The gag stretched even further as the message continued for longer than you’d expect, mentioning how Duo had “enemies” and asking people to “include your credit card number so we can automatically sign you up for Duolingo Max in his memory.”

They even changed their profile picture to the owl with Xs across his eyes. Let the Owl rest in peace, c’mon! Even Dua Lipa, who famously has been connected with the brand due to the similarities in their names, reshared the post with, “Til’ death duo part.”

The announcement came on Tuesday, and as of Wednesday morning, we have no updates, though Duolingo hinted that the story is far from over. “We know no owl as dedicated as Duo just drops dead without a story,” the company said in a statement. “Keep an eye on our social channels as we uncover the shocking (and possibly absurd) truth behind his untimely demise.”

Fear not, Duo lovers, this is likely a grand scheme to drum up interest in the app. As the company no doubt hoped (and expected), the post has gone viral with more than 61 million views and another 4.6 million views from Dua Lipa’s post. Comments continue to pour in, prolonging the post’s shelf life, so it’s hard not to think there’s something else going on.

I’m just waiting for the company to post an Undertake-esque meme with Duolingo rising from the coffin.