Duolingo’s Christmas album is taking no prisoners – except maybe your parents.
By James Herring on Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Duolingo’s famously menacing owl mascot is taking no prisoners this holiday season – except maybe your parents.
The language-learning app just dropped its debut holiday album, Owl on the Prowl, and it’s as chaotic as you’d expect.
Available now on Spotify, the four-track album leans hard into Duolingo’s reputation for aggressive notifications and guilt-tripping users into practicing their lessons.
This year, the stakes are higher: the app is judging learners as naughty or nice based on how consistently they study. Miss a lesson? Forget coal—your family might just vanish.
Case in point: the standout track, Bring My Parents Back, tells the story of Timmy, a boy whose parents are kidnapped by Duo after he slacks off on his language practice.
The music video, a twisted homage to Home Alone, features the owl with a “BBL” abducting Timmy’s parents and leaving him begging for their return.
The song, penned by viral content creators The Gregory Brothers, perfectly captures Duolingo’s dark humor and has already racked up 3.75M views on YouTube.
Other tracks on the album include ‘Owl on the Prowl’ (Duo’s Always Watching You), ‘I Hate Christmas’, and the delightful ‘Japanese or Broken Knees’.
The collection cements Duolingo’s position as both a learning tool and a pop culture juggernaut.
There’s even a plushie toy.
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