Users of the Duolingo language-learning app will know its owl mascot looks worse and worse the longer a user goes without using the app. But in a first, Duolingo says the owl, dubbed Duo, has now died. "Authorities are currently investigating his cause of death and we are cooperating fully," the app says in a Tuesday statement shared on social media, per E! News. In the comments, it suggests "a Canadian rapper" is a suspect, apparently referring to Drake. The app previously joked that it was Duo who Kendrick Lamar beat up in his "Not Like Us" music video, though it was in fact an owl piñata meant as a nod to Drake's OVO brand, which also uses an owl mascot, per Uproxx.
In the statement, however, Duolingo threw the blame for Duo's death at its 103.4 million monthly active users as of 2024, per Forbes. "He probably died waiting for you to do your lesson," it wrote. "For years, he tirelessly reminded millions to do their language lessons ... but even the most relentless of birds can only take so much," a rep adds, per E! The app icon now displays the owl with Xs for eyes. But "no owl as dedicated as Duo just drops dead without a story," the rep says, noting "the shocking (and possibly absurd) truth behind his untimely demise" is still to come. In the meantime, the app jokingly suggests fans sign up for a paid Duolingo Max subscription "in his memory." (More marketing stories.)
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