In an elaborate marketing campaign this month, Duolingo seemingly killed its viral green owl mascot in every country but one. "Duo, our owl, faked his death in every single market that we had ...

This style of marketing largely centers around its iconic green owl mascot, Duo. It was all fun and games until last week ...

Yup, totally not intimidating at all. There's absolutely nothing more encouraging than having a giant, green owl stare you down in the middle of a date until you practice Korean for five minutes.

As the weeks before my trip dissolved into days, I kept up my Duolingo streak, racking up badges and encouraging notifications from Duo, the brand's green owl mascot. Then came my flight — and ...