Owl miss you. The famous language learning app, Duolingo has recently announced on Twitter that their green feathered mascot is no longer with us. This is most upsetting as the multilingual avian has been the face of the app for many years.
The official Twitter account of Duolingo posted a text image with the caption “an important message from Duolingo”. Naturally, the death came as a surprise, the beloved winged language expert spurred activity between netizens and brands.
This, of course, is part of a publicity stunt that plays into the various whimsical scenarios to which internet meme culture has subjected the nocturnal, flying polyglot. The brand has built a reputation for doing so over the years and has gained a cult following online.
One of the most prevalent examples is the green strigiform threatening the user with a loaded gun for neglecting their language course. Those who have downloaded and used the language app will likely be familiar with the constant reminders to keep up with lessons. Or else.
With such virality, the other brands in the space chimed in and showed their sympathy (or lack thereof). Most of them clowning and joining in on the absurdity of a digital cartoon bird for language learning now has crosses on its eyes, which can be seen in the profile photo of the official X account.
Some of the notable replies to the tweet include The Sims pouring one out for the Duo, Halo and Assassin’s Creed showing Duo superimposed into tragic death scenes, and so on. With such big accounts replying and interacting with each other, the phenomenon really cemented itself in the public eye for a brief moment.
The other netizens, however, chose to creatively express their condolences, truly showing a moment of collective unity. To put it frankly, the publicity stunt unleashed a torrent of meme energy, really rubbing it into the dead virtual owl.
A few replies gained attention, with some claiming to have cooked Duo for consumption, sharing images of chicken wings and drumsticks with green seasoning. Others picked up on Duolingo’s previous post related to the Drake vs Kendrick Lamar beef, blaming the owl’s death on Kendrick.
This has certainly been a clever marketing ploy – a rare 2025 win. While the wordy hooty may have met his end, his mischievous spirit lives on in our collective social consciousness. Even superstar Dua Lipa joins the crowd in mourning the mascot’s death with her statement “Til’ death Duo us apart”. The replies are just as cursed as you’d imagine, only images can describe these words.
The official @duolingo TikTok account also stated that they found the cause of death in a video of the event itself—a fiery car crash, with poor Duo floating off into space, heading for both heaven and purgatory. A true testament to video production. It’s not over yet, though. The driver who killed Duo is still at large, and the investigation is ongoing. The account then thanked us for our patience during this difficult time.
Here’s the video the company posted about Duo’s death:
@duolingo UPDATE: Reward for whoever can identify the driver. Please post any leads on TikTok. Thank you for your patience with us during these trying times. #RIPduo
Gan has contributed to this article
