The Duolingo mascot, Duo Keyshauna Renee Lingo, was an owl. I say “was” because, apparently, he was “killed” by a Tesla Cybertruck.

As we mourn the death of my favorite brand mascot, we must acknowledge the absolute brilliance behind Duolingo’s social media pages and brand campaigns.

Ads have changed a lot over time. We went from word of mouth to newspapers, TV and now social media.

The biggest time for commercials and ads? The Super Bowl. At least, it used to be.

The Super Bowl has some of the funniest commercials and advertisements every year. In fact, some people couldn’t care less about the halftime performance or football game — they just watch the ads.

Every February, these ads go outside and against the brand’s normal personality. They spend time coming up with potentially one or two commercials that are going to make someone laugh or cry. Sure, we talk about them for a little bit, but they are often forgettable.

This is Duolingo’s everyday personality. It’s passive aggressive, sometimes just totally aggressive, but it’s memorable and gets people talking.

Duolingo uses the type of marketing that is seen during the Super Bowl, to keep this chaotic, hilarious feeling all year round.

I see Duo on my Instagram, my TikTok and even the widgets on my phone when it’s time for a lesson. Whether he’s dressed as the Mona Lisa, crying or glaring at me through the screen, it’s always fun to see. The humor from Duo that we watch on social media doesn’t just stop once you download the app, which makes it that much better.

Duolingo creates bits and videos that garner attention. Yes, Duo is a comical owl, but the technique behind it is much more sophisticated than just a bird that threatens people.

It uses every aspect of the PESO model — paid, earned, shared and owned media — a major part of integrating marketing communications. If you’re a public relations practitioner, you’re definitely using these techniques. But it’s how you use them that will determine how successful your brand campaign is going to be.

The once unique, now popular, technique that Duolingo uses is marketing genius. It’s found its balance in a way I’ve yet to see from other brands.

It uses paid media with the normal ads on YouTube, Google and app stores, a lot of brands do. What’s different about Duolingo is how it uses the other forms of media.

It’s getting coverage from news outlets for its unique approach to advertising, especially now that the brand went on a killing spree of their mascots. This is earned media. Every time someone makes a TikTok, or posts about the deaths, that’s yet another way of getting earned media.

Next is shared media. The presence Duolingo has on different platforms is stronger than many other brands. Instagram is arguably the biggest platform, where it takes over reels and feeds by comedically harassing others.

Most recently, before their deaths, Duolingo’s characters sang Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” Earlier this month, it used its “Let’s review your mistakes” icon on a post about NBA player Luka Doncic. Not to mention, the post that included the Twitter icon that was captioned “Both killed by a Cybertruck.” I’ve even seen it wreak havoc on Threads. No place is safe.

Finally, when it comes to owned media, this is where it really thrives. The app alone is an obvious example of this, but the company also has a blog where content can range from “How to break up with someone in 10 languages” to “Learner love story: How Amanda and Rob fell in love on Duolingo!”

Duolingo is doing so well when it comes to marketing, that other companies can piggyback off of its success.

ScrubDaddy posted a post-mortem video tribute to Duo where it showed Duo giving birth to their children. Yes, it sounds crazy, but that’s the point. People are much more likely to talk about that than a boring 30-second ad.

ScrubDaddy wasn’t the only brand to do things like this. Buffalo Wild Wings posted a video of their wings, with some green feathers, saying “couldn’t let that bird go to waste.” Duolingo has so much marketing power, that it started almost a whole strategy in itself for other companies to use and gain recognition.

Though it’s hard for other brands to mimic Duolingo’s strategy, they may be catching up. Entertaining marketing tactics like the one that Duolingo uses is exactly what is going to attract customers. The trick is keeping them around, which Duolingo does by maintaining the entertainment going even on their app. That icon is now a deceased Duo.

I never thought I’d enjoy being verbally abused by an owl, but here I am, an avid Duolingo user, and my streak of over 900 days can prove that.

A year ago, I may have only been a user. Now, I’m a fan.

On behalf of the late Duo, do your lesson.