Duolingo announces death of mascot and TikTok is grieving. ‘He’s looking up at us now’
A company announced that their mascot “died” and TikTokers don’t know if they should be grieving or celebrating.
Duolingo, a popular app used to learn new languages, is known for their bright green mascot named Duo.
Duo, a rambunctious owl, floods the feeds of social media, poking fun at celebrities, partaking in trends and encouraging the learning of new languages — and mocking those who don’t keep up with their daily lessons.
The company took to TikTok on Feb. 11 with “heavy hearts” and plenty of sarcasm to announce the unexpected death of Duo, according to the post that’s been seen over 300,000 times.
“Authorities are currently investigating his cause of death and we are cooperating fully. Tbh, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know. We’re aware he had enemies, but we kindly ask that you refrain from sharing why you hate him in the comments. If you feel inclined to share, please include your credit card number so we can automatically sign you up for Duolingo Max in his memory,” the post said.
The post doesn’t forget to mention Duo’s “unrequited” love interest, singer Dua Lipa, with the company saying, “We appreciate you respecting Dua Lipa’s privacy at this time.”
As for what took the life of this tiny polyglot?
Duo has been known to poke fun at Canadian rapper Drake and pledged his allegiance to the artist’s rival, Kendrick Lamar.
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Duo took to TikTok to share how he was “glad” to not be the only owl with a Brazilian butt lift to be rumored to perform at the sporting event’s halftime show, according to the Feb. 7 TikTok.
The post that’s been seen over 864,000 times on TikTok as of Feb. 11, showed a post of potential performers that could accompany Kendrick Lamar on stage, including the likes of Lil Wayne, SpongeBob, Taylor Swift, and Drake, who’s known to also have an owl as his logo.
The “disdain” Duo is known to have for Drake, has TikTokers turning to the 38-year-old singer as a potential suspect — with even Duolingo’s account hinting at it.
“Investigators are checking into a Canadian lead,” the company jokingly commented.
As for the “big emotion” users are feeling, some don’t know if they “can deal” and others are wondering if this means they don’t have to keep up with their language lessons.
“Does this mean i don’t have to do my lesson anymore,” someone wrote.
“I can still feel the shame he used to give me when I skipped a lesson,” another wrote.
“I never did my lessons how do you say “rest in peace” in spanish?” someone said.
Others are expressing how they “can’t do this without” him with one person saying, “Told my manager I can’t come in out of respect for Duo.”
“Duo take me with you,” another wrote.
But, it seems TikTok users are in agreement about one thing when it comes to the pestering “legend.”
“He’s looking up at us now,” someone said.
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Duolingo announces death of mascot and TikTok is grieving. ‘He’s looking up at us now’."