Everyone’s Favourite Green Owl Makes His Super Bowl Debut in Typical Duolingo Unhinged Fashion

Everyone’s favourite green owl just made his Super Bowl debut, and in typical Duolingo fashion… it was totally unhinged. Duo the Owl, the language-learning app’s iconic mascot, is the sole star of the brand’s first-ever Super Bowl commercial* which aired regionally in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Detroit, and Pittsburgh during the Big Game. 

Inspired by the Duolingo community’s viral online conversations around one particular widget and staying true to the brand’s “unhinged marketing” approach, Buttception leveraged the star power of Duo the Owl and featured the multi-lingual mascot farting out his own face to get viewers’ attention. Simultaneously with the unexpected spot, roughly 4M Duolingo learners across the seven cities received a real-time push notification prompting them to get back to their lessons. The result? Duolingo fans went wild. See real-time TikTok reactions here and here and top tweets here, here, and here.

Adding to the cheeky festivities, Duolingo partnered with the internet’s favourite plastic surgeon, Dr. Miami, to give Duo the Owl his signature Brazilian Butt Lift. And earlier today, the brand unveiled new Duo Butt Briefs ($19.95) available via the Duolingo Store for fans looking to rep Buttception with pride.

The brand's non-traditional approach to a Super Bowl ad combined its community-first mentality and cheeky marketing techniques to create its biggest ad moment to date and continue its mission to make learning fun and effective. 

Check out our Collection of every Super Bowl 2024 ad so far here.