Duolingo, the people’s princess of brands on social media, has been in the hot seat recently.

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If you are an avid TikTok user like myself, I’m sure you’ve encountered one of their quirky posts featuring their mascot, Duo the Owl. From Duo twerking to their mascot’s untimely death by Cybertruck, the brand has consistently been entertaining and engaging with its audience (and reminding them to go complete their daily language lesson). 

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They’ve had massive success online, with their TikTok profile now having 16.8 million followers. They have been a fascinating example of how to build relationships with their users. 

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So… What happened?

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Duolingo’s CEO recently released an email about how the company was moving towards an “AI-first” strategy. This means that AI will begin to replace contract workers.

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It’s safe to say that users were not pleased by this announcement. Negative comments began to flood Duolingo’s profiles. 

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Their response was interesting, to say the least.

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Instead of addressing their audience's concerns, Duolingo removed all of their videos and changed their bio to be a cryptic message of “real eyes realize real lies.” 

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A few days later, they uploaded a bizarre video featuring an owl-mask-clad employee ranting about “the elites” and how “one single post” about AI brought everything crashing down. 

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The issue? It wasn’t just one post. It was a major strategic pivot with real-world implications, particularly for the human workers behind the scenes.

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Now all of their videos are back, and they are beginning to post as normal. They also uploaded an interview with the CEO, Luis von Ahn, addressing his views on AI usage. Most viewers aren’t buying it though, and their comment sections are still filled with criticism. 

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Transparency and communication are crucial. 

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Duolingo’s recent stumble is an important lesson for marketers: if you want to cultivate a brand identity rooted in authenticity and relatability, you have to ensure that internal decisions reflect and uphold those same values. When there is a disconnect between how a brand portrays itself and how it actually acts, especially in today’s hyper-visible social landscape, that tension becomes glaringly obvious. 

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For Duolingo, the way forward isn’t to just act like nothing happened and return to their same posting strategy. They need to rebuild trust with users through transparency, authentic dialogue, and regain alignment between their brand’s identity and their actions. That is the only way to maintain not just an audience, but a true community. 

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