Pittsburgh-based Duolingo announces death of Duo, its owl mascot

PITTSBURGH — Duo, the iconic green owl who was the mascot for Pittsburgh-based Duolingo, is no more.

The language-learning app company took to X on Tuesday to announce Duo’s passing, saying, “It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that Duo, formally known as The Duolingo Owl, is dead.”

The post went on jokingly to say, “Tbh, he probably died waiting for you to do your lesson, but what do we know.”

After announcing the mascot’s death, Duolingo changed its social media profile pictures to depict a photo of the owl with X’s as its eyes.

Several big-name companies went on to post about Duo’s passing, including Netflix.

In part of a statement sent to Channel 11, a Duolingo spokesperson confirmed the social media posts:

“We can confirm the statements in our recent social posts are true. It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved mascot, Duo the Owl. For years, he tirelessly reminded millions to do their language lessons—sometimes with gentle nudges, sometimes with sheer, unhinged persistence. But even the most relentless of birds can only take so much. Our app icon reflects this tragic loss with ‘Dead Duo.”

On Wednesday morning, Duolingo posted on X saying “Officials have identified cause of death. More details to follow.”

Later on its TikTok page, a video was posted showing Duo being hit by a Cybertruck. The post says, “Reward for whoever can identify the driver. Please post any leads on TikTok. Thank you for your patience with us during these trying times.”

This isn’t the first time a company killed off their mascot. In 2020, Mr. Peanut, Planters’ 104-year-old mascot, died sacrificing himself to save actors Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh in a video released during 2020′s NFL Championship Game. During the Super Bowl that year, the company aired a commercial showing the funeral and it ended with a Baby Nut growing from the ground. The following year, the Baby Nut grew into the familiar Mr. Peanut we all know.

As for Duo, we will have to wait and see what the future holds.

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