Overview

Duolingo Owl Dies refers to a promotional campaign and viral marketing stunt by the language-learning app Duolingo, which announced that their mascot Duo, commonly known as the Duolingo Owl, has died. Made in mid-February 2025, the announcement became a subject of jokes, memes and discussions on multiple platforms in the following days.

Background

On February 11th, 2025, the language-learning app Duolingo announced that its mascot Duo, often referred to as the Duolingo Owl, had died.^[1] The announcement post (shown below) received over 63.2 million views, 68,000 reposts and 650,000 likes on X / Twitter in one day.

Developments

Later on February 11th, 2025, Duolingo posted^[2] an "In Memoriam" image for Duo, which also used the Matching CEO Names meme. The post (shown below) received over 9,300 reposts and 108,000 likes on X in one day.

On February 12th, 2025, Duolingo wrote on X^[3] that Duo's cause of death had been identified.

Online Reactions

On February 11th, 2025, the X^[4] news account @PopBase reported on the Duolingo Owl's death, with the post garnering over 34,000 reposts and 368,000 likes in one day.

In the following days, multiple users and brand accounts on X reacted to the announcement by posting memes and jokes about the mascot's death.

For example, on February 11th, X^[5] user @TheWapplehouse posted an edit of the CCTV footage of the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly committed by Luigi Mangione. The post (shown below) received over 5,800 reposts and 128,000 likes in one day.

Various brand social media accounts, primarily for major video games, responded with memes imagining the Duolingo mascot dying in various ways.

For instance, on February 11th, 2025, the official U.K. X^[6] account for Assassin's Creed posted a meme in which protagonist Ezio assassinated the mascot. The post (shown below) received over 2,800 reposts and 41,000 likes in one day.

Related Memes

Mr. Peanut's Death

Mr. Peanut's Death refers to an advertising campaign in which the Planters mascot, Mr. Peanut, sacrifices himself and dies in a commercial that will air during Super Bowl LIV. The ad was released on YouTube 10 days before the Super Bowl, and led to jokes about the mascot's "death."

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References