Duolingo Makes Fun Of Their Overly Aggressive Owl Mascot For April Fools

Duolingo can be a pretty amazing app if you're trying to seriously learn a new language. But it has earned some infamy for its owl mascot, who many people see as "overly aggressive," or sometimes even way too passive-aggressive when it comes to its lesson reminders.

Now, as part of April Fools Day, Duolingo is making fun of their infamous owl in a hilarious video, wherein the owl was the subject. Here's the video posted on the official YouTube channel for the app:

Mashable writes that the video is done in the guise of a law office commercial from a fake firm. The firm promises to help victims of Duo the Owl to rescue any family members or loved ones who got kidnapped by the owl, seemingly as retribution for language learners losing their study streaks.

The reported threats from the Duolingo owl were also shown in the video, and they're quite terrifying if you think about it. There were phrases like "Spanish or vanish," "French or the trench," "Japanese or broken bones," or "Korean or never be seen" which are veiled threats to those who obviously miss their daily language study goals.

The video ends by posting a hotline to the fake law firm Menchetti & Sons, 781-STOP-OWL. What's even more impressive is that the number actually works, with a fake lawyer answering your call.

Duolingo And Its 'Passive Aggressive' Push Notifications

If you have Duolingo installed on your device, you most likely have noticed its constant push notifications reminding you to continue your lessons. The notifications range from simple, harmless-sounding reminders to things which can be quite mean, such as "Spanish isn't going to learn itself."

These notifications have been reported as somewhat "very demotivating" by lots of users over the years, saying that even more moderated daily goal settings don't put the aggressive notifications in check. But as bad as that may be for users, this is specifically how the language learning app was designed.

Why The Passive Aggressive Reminders?

In an article by The Verge, the aforementioned push notifications were put into question. According to them, the design of the app (not to mention the Duolingo Owl) was deliberate. And it was made to basically guilt-trip users into coming back to the app to finish their language studies.

Duolingo head of design Tyler Murphy says that making the owl appear "crying" to beg users to go back to the app is part of its gamification. He says that Duo's design and antics are intended to make "gamers" (in this case the app users) feel and get attached to the character. Combine that with the passive-aggressive messages to go back to learning, and you see the bigger picture.

Nevertheless, it seems to have paid off, more so under the world's current circumstances. Specifically, the Ukraine-Russia war actually boosted the app's user base by 458% last month as more people wanted to learn Ukrainian. Not to mention, the pandemic is still forcing many folks to stay at home, stuck with their phones and all the time in the world.

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Written by RJ Pierce