"The pick me of all pick me brand accounts"—Netizens react as the Duolingo mascot humors Ashton Hall's viral morning routine
On March 26, 2025, Duolingo recreated fitness influencer Ashton Hall’s viral morning routine in an X post. In the recent video, language app's mascot called The Duolingo Owl was seen imitating the routine thoroughly. For context, Ashton Hall's March 24 routine illustrated his lifestyle, which involved strict work, exercise, and specific eating routine.
Duolingo's post was uploaded almost a month after the app declared that its mascot had "died" on February 11, 2025. However, in another Instagram post on February, the platform mentioned that the owl was "faking" his death.
After the owl's latest fitness video started making rounds online, some expressed confusion as they thought the mascot died, while others praised the brand’s marketing team. On the other hand, one user said that the company is trying really hard to stay relevant.
“I got called a slanderer when I said this b*tch was the pick me of all pick me brand accounts,” wrote one user.
Referring to the official announcement of the owl's death, a netizen jokingly said the mascot is back as a "bodybuilder, while another one tagged them as an “unserious brand.”
“I thought this b*tch died,” wrote another user.
“Wait hold up a second I thought Duolingo was killed, now he is back as a steroid-using bodybuilder?” one confused user asked.
“Duolingo really trying to speedrun being the most unserious brand of all time,” another one criticized.
However, others took it as a joke as one X user said that the marketing team needs a raise, while another person stated that they needed this content today.
“Whoever is in charge of Duolingo’s social media needs a raise,” said one user.
“The type of content we needed today,” another delighted user wrote.
“Duolingo wildin' again, can't take em' seriously,” said another one jokingly.
Duolingo mascot joined the bandwagon of attempting Ashton Hall's viral morning routine
Recently, Duolingo embraced the very popular practice of dipping faces into icy water. This happened after Ashton Hall's ice water morning routine went viral on Monday, March 24. According to Mashable's report from the same day, the video, which was first uploaded on February 7, and was titled "Day 191 of the morning routine that changed my life."
The caption mentioned, "The Morning Routine That Changed My Life: 3:50 AM to 9:30 AM," In the video, Hall can be seen ripping a piece of tape off his lips in the video. After brushing his teeth, he filled a cup with water from a blue Saratoga bottle.
He drank it and then went out onto his balcony. He then exercised for a while and then dunked his face after writing in a diary and watching something on his phone between 4 and 4:20 AM.
Then, he got ready and hit the gym. After working out, he returned home by 7:30 AM and went for swimming. At around 8:20 AM, he then took a bath, cleaned his face, ate a banana, rubbed his face with the banana peel, and cleaned it once more.
He then put on formal clothes, and submerged his face in the ice water once more at around 9 AM. Fiveteen minutes later, he then sat down to eat breakfast.
Now, Duolingo joined the trend once it gained popularity, and parodied it in his post on X on March 26. The video came a month after the brand declared that the "authorities" were "investigating" the demise of Duo the Owl.
On February 11, the language-learning platform announced the death of its mascot on X and wrote:
“It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that Duo, formally known as The Duolingo Owl, is dead.”
However, after almost two weeks, on February 24, they again announced on Instagram that the owl faked his death.
On the other hand, the language company isn't the only one attempting this trend in recent times. On March 24, MrBeast joined the bandwagon by sharing a snapshot of several iMessage messages from his "personal assistant" advising him to dip his face in icy water, rub his face with a banana peel, or leap into the pool.