Duolingo crashes Apple’s iPhone Duo launch with free apples

Duolingo parked a cart of free green apples outside an Apple Store in New York to mark the launch of the iPhone Duo, turning a shared name into a media stunt.

The language app’s green owl mascot is also called Duo. Naturally, it decided shoppers should meet the original, arriving with a fruit giveaway billed as “Free Apple Duo”.

“I heard they’re selling me today?” read the caption accompanying the brand’s Instagram post.

Each apple carried a sticker featuring an apple-shaped Duo, a QR code and the instruction “Do your lesson”. Posters added to the joke, showing the owl on an iPhone screen alongside the words “This is Duo”.

It follows the brand’s phonetic fashion collection, which turned tricky designer names into wearable pronunciation lessons at New York Fashion Week.

Free apples came with a reminder to open the app.

Subscribe to the famous newsletter and get the best campaigns in your inbox