Why Duolingo’s Viral Mascot Stunt Was a Marketing Masterclass

In the early hours of Feb. 11, 2025, the language-learning app Duolingo posted a statement on Instagram announcing the death of its beloved mascot, Duo. In subsequent posts, the adorable green owl is depicted being carried away in a coffin by some of his fellow mascot friends. While brands have killed off characters before, this stunt by Duolingo has garnered a large following.  

More Than a Mascot  

What started as casual videos teaching people a word or phrase in another language, Duolingo’s TikTok journey has now accumulated 16.5 million followers, along with impressive followings on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). But why do people care so much about Duolingo’s mascot? It’s just an owl, right?  

From the beginning, Duo has had a unique social media presence as a brand mascot, acting more as an influencer than merely a logo for a large corporation. Duo has become famous for his “unhinged” sense of humor and knack for jumping on the latest trends. A quick scroll through Duolingo’s TikTok over the past few months shows Duo revealing his greatest secrets in light of the TikTok ban, dressing up as characters from the popular TV show Squid Games, and even creating and playing the app’s own game on Roblox, one of the most popular gaming platforms today, especially among Gen Z and Gen Alpha.  

Other brands have recognized Duolingo’s success on the app and many have attempted to replicate it, but most don’t come close to matching its viral success. For a long time, Duo was one of the few brand mascots to behave like a content creator instead of a corporation, distinguishing itself as a brand that understood and connected with TikTok’s audience.  

Because of this long-standing popularity, the death of Duo the owl went viral instantly, further promoted by TikTok users, and other brands. Even pop star Dua Lipa posted about it. Additionally, Duolingo launched a temporary website called “Bring Back Duolingo,” allowing users a limited time to earn enough XP in the app to “save Duo.”  

What Was it All For?  

On Feb. 24, 2025, a little less than two weeks after his death, Duolingo posted a video across all of its social media platforms depicting Duo stepping out of the same coffin his mascot friends had put him in a few weeks prior. The on-screen text read, “Legends never die,” signaling the return of the popular mascot.  

At first glance, this may seem like a sporadic move on Duolingo’s part, but the death and rebirth of Duo was a massive success. The website created to save Duo achieved its goal of 50 billion XP, totaling 50,921,342,438 XP across 15 different countries. With the average lesson on Duolingo awarding 10 XP, that equates to just over 5 billion Duolingo lessons in only a few weeks. The numbers also speak for themselves on social media. In the five days prior to Duo’s death, there were an average of 11,000 mentions of Duolingo each day, but in the five days following, the average soared to nearly 60,000. 

Duolingo gamified its social media campaign, utilizing Duo’s death to enhance engagement through language lessons and beyond just likes and comments. 

If you needed any more proof that this campaign was a huge success, Duo passed away around the same time as the Super Bowl, and Duolingo was mentioned on social media more than every Super Bowl ad aired during the game. Doritos, arguably the most successful ad campaign that night, garnered 57.2k mentions on social media from Feb. 7 to Feb. 17. During that same period, Duolingo received 168k mentions, more than double that of Doritos.  

What Can Brands Do?  

These numbers are certainly impressive, but what can businesses learn from this? Duolingo is a large corporation and has an entire team dedicated to creating TikToks all day, right? They certainly didn’t start out that way. The growth of Duo’s current social media presence is largely attributed to the efforts of one person—Zaria Parvez. Parvez joined Duolingo in 2020, and over the past few years has expanded their social media following from 50,000 users to over 16 million—and that’s just on TikTok. She spoke of her success at Duolingo, saying that “pitching risky ideas actually [gave me] a leg up and they had an opportunity to shine.”  

It doesn’t require millions of dollars or a large team of influencers to create viral content—it takes ambitious goals and a willingness to take risks. In a world where trends come and go quickly, brands that spend weeks approving social posts will miss their moment. Much of Parvez’s success with Duo on social media stemmed from posting content she found funny and understanding their Gen Z audience on TikTok.  With nothing but “a crusty owl suit and an iPhone,” she took the internet by storm.  

Here's what brands can take away from Duolingo’s success: 

• Be fast: Trends move quickly, so cut out unnecessary approval steps. 

• Be bold: Risky, authentic content outperforms safe, corporate posts.  

• Be engaging: Interactive campaigns drive real engagement, not just views.  

Duolingo exemplifies how taking the time to understand your consumers and engage with them in familiar ways can produce amazing results.  

The brands that win are those willing to take smart risks. At BSM Partners, we help brands tap into cultural moments, move quickly, and create marketing that gets consumers talking. Want to make your brand unignorable? Let’s talk.  

And remember to complete your daily Spanish lesson! (Duo is always watching, after all.) 

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About the Author

Cady Wolf is an Analyst Intern at BSM Partners. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in English from Brigham Young University-Idaho, and she currently lives in Rexburg, Idaho with her husband, their two cats, and pet tortoise. She loves animals and learning about how to help pet brands and pet parents alike.