Duolingo has got the "Big Apple"

At the wee hours of September 10 Beijing time, Apple held its autumn new product launch event.

Who could have imagined that Duolingo would ride this wave of hype again.

The name of Apple's latest foldable phone is: iPhone Duo

And Duolingo's mascot, that little green owl, is exactly named Duo.

Long before the launch event started, Duo had already latched onto the trend, and posted a caption that said "That's right, it's me" in its post last night.

The line "Yes, we have a child" in the caption further pushed this association into the social media context. Apple did not take the initiative to participate, but Duolingo assigned itself a "parent" identity.

As of press time, this post has received 27,000 likes, nearly 1,000 collections and 5,300 comments on Xiaohongshu.

It takes a full launch event for Apple to spark a viral topic.

It only takes a playful claim for Duolingo to spark a viral topic.

According to Duolingo's official brand introduction, Duo is the brand mascot and the most important character asset for Duolingo to communicate with users. It is set as a learning companion that is passionate, persistent, full of emotions, and even a little clumsy.

After Apple's new phone was officially released, Duolingo posted new content "Duo likes apple" earlier today.

With extremely simple text and visuals, users can understand this joke in a second. For users who have been urged to study by Duo, once Apple announced the name, users could already complete this association for the brand.

"There is no obligation not to ride the hype," users joked.

On social platforms, most of the comments from netizens are positive:

"It seems that it's time to reward myself with a Super Duolingo!"

"The first thing I thought of when I saw the release was Duolingo, probably because I'm a user."

"The smile of Super i Duo"

"The phone also looks like Duo, so chubby"

"When I saw the iPhone Duo push from Apple this morning, I immediately thought of our Duo, and thought it was some amazing collaboration."

"News tomorrow: Apple acquires Duolingo, Super Duolingo joins the Apple One subscription."

"That annoying green bird is so lucky"

...

Overseas, Duo has also created a lot of viral memes.

For example, it targeted the pain point of high price:

"Apple Foldable Duo: $1999"

"Me on your phone: Free"

It is not a real competitor, but it just wants you to know how cost-effective it is.

Overseas Duolingo performed extremely "full of grievances" in this name collision trend with Apple: "They named a phone after me, and they even want me to bend over" — the phrase "bend over" corresponds to the foldable screen that can be bent.

Coincidentally, Duo comes from Latin, meaning "two/double".

For Duolingo, it means "multiple languages" — for Apple's foldable phone, it means "two screens".

Duolingo also posted multiple posts, constantly expressing worry and complaint, especially the line "What about my SEO".

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Duo's worry is that before, when people search for "Duo", all the results are the little green owl Duo from Duolingo; now when people search for "Duo", all the results are about Apple.

It can only be said that it is really hard to compete with Apple.

On social platforms at home and abroad, many brands also rushed to leave comments immediately.

Samsung came to join in the fun, teasing that Apple's foldable screen copied and caught up with their technology.

As a result, Duo didn't even bother to respond.

Brands including Alipay, Bilibili, JD.com, Shanzha Shuxia, and Pulse also came to respond to the trend.

7-Eleven wished for an iPhone 711, and netizens calculated that this would not come true until the year 2722...

Netizens also "customized" a "Duoduo" for Pinduoduo.

Relevant practitioners analyzed to Duozhi that whether a brand can catch up with a hot trend essentially depends on what the brand has accumulated before the trend occurs — names, characters, visuals, slogans, and brand stories co-created with users — all of these may suddenly gain new value in a public event.

And Duolingo is really good at creating playful viral content.

For example, this is not the first time it has ridden on Apple's hype.

On February 1, 2026, Duolingo released the video content "Duolingo 2026 New Product Launch: Full of Cunning Tricks" on video platforms, where a speaker with a very familiar dressing style gave a detailed introduction to three products.

The three products are officially called "revolutionary smart products", "they will redefine that Duo is also part of your play experience", among which:

The Duo pendant is defined as an "ergonomic stress reducer". The speaker pointed out that it is "the peak of rounded aesthetics, which can be hung on the waist, bags, and even ears".

The bracelet is a "quantum bracelet". The speaker emphasized that "rotate it once, you won't be annoyed today; rotate it once, you will pass the exam easily; rotate it once, your oppa will chat with you".

The mahjong set is a "large language module". The speaker introduced that "in this multi-player real-time dynamic word-spelling competition system, players' IQ will soar to 250 in a short period of time, which is exactly the golden window to strengthen word memorization".

On the evening of February 2, all four products were sold out on Weidian.

In this launch event that imitates the style of a well-known tech brand, Duolingo's three peripheral products once again deeply bind entertainment and learning: playing is learning.

This also means that Duolingo's "study motivation plan" has added a new member.

After Duolingo collaborated with brands including Luckin Coffee, Yoghurt, Genshin Impact, and Insta360 in the Chinese market to launch multiple co-branded products in 2025, in addition to this wave of peripheral products in 2026, the little green owl also announced a major collaboration with QQ Music, Kugou Music and WeSing in January, which is officially called the "Music Study Motivation Plan".

In the Music Study Motivation Plan, Duo first opened its own music account and released its first album "Duolingo Music Study Motivation". The new album includes two new songs, namely "Duo Shake (Duolingo Bird Shake)" and "The Song of Duo".

QQ Music also posted on its social account saying that the music goose was forcibly taken away by Duo when it was on duty at QQ Music. While the goose hostage was detained in the bird nest, it released the conditions for redeeming the goose, that is, the rescue guide for users:

1. Enter the "Duolingo Medal" challenge area on @QQ Music;

2. Complete the tasks assigned by Duo such as "listen to songs", "check in", "collect playlists";

3. After completing the tasks, you can get limited medal fragments. Collect 9 fragments to combine the ultimate medal, and the music goose will be released immediately...

In March, Duolingo's mascot Duo submitted its resignation letter.

"Thank the company for its trust and cultivation. Although I have paid much more, you have all learned a lot from me. It is your honor to have me in the company."

"Now that my wings are hardened, after careful consideration, I decide not to continue to serve in the company's "mascot" position."

Duo's account was renamed "Duo (Resigned Version)", and countless offers immediately poured in — the battle for the bird started.

According to incomplete statistics from Duozhi, as of press time, more than 200 companies have sent invitations, and the positions offered are... all kinds of strange...

For the most familiar education & tech companies, the positions they provide are basically related to Duo's strengths:

TAL offered the coolest position, hiring Duo as "Chief Senior Teacher"; New Oriental Future Study Abroad offered the position of "Newly Appointed Word Memorization Hypnotist"; iFlytek provided the position of "Smart Skilled Bird"; Baidu provided the CSO (Chief Supervisory Officer) position, which is the chief study supervisor, equivalent to the study committee member; Codemao provided the position of "Chief Study Urging Officer".