Why is Duolingo beefing Drake?

While everyone is talking about the best Super Bowl ads this week, I think it’s important we all take a moment to mourn the loss of none other than Duo—the beloved mascot of the language app Duolingo. To make this difficult news even harder, it’s come to light that not only has Duo died, but he was killed.

And the number one suspect? Canadian rapper Drake.

In this marketing stunt of the year, Duolingo has chosen to personally jump into the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef. But why is the beloved language app going so hard on the certified loverboy? Well, believe it or not—the two actually have a long-standing feud. It all started when Aubrey referenced Duolingo’s biggest competitor, Rosetta Stone in his song ‘Over’ back in 2010.

“I could teach you how to speak my language, Rosetta Stone”

Making the most out of this moment, Duolingo started a feud online and leveraged the popularity of the song for some out-of-the-box style marketing taking shots at Drizzy on Twitter. After some back of forth, the feud eventually fizzled out.

That is until Duolingo tweeted a photo of Duo dancing with the caption, “Say Drake” following Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance this weekend. Re-igniting the beef between the two in a big way.

But they didn’t stop there. Yesterday, Duolingo posted with heavy hearts that their beloved mascot was dead. In the comments, they doubled down, confirming that the number one suspect was none other than Aubrey Graham himself.

So, what’s the takeaway? Instead of spending $4 million dollars on a Super Bowl ad, Duolingo used the discourse online around Kendrick’s legendary halftime show and 2 simple words to create their own moment. Doubling down on and thinking on their feet, they launched what I think is their best campaign yet, getting everyone online talking about them. And the best part? It’s just getting started.

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—Riley Fox

Founder & CEO of Ralf