TOKYO, JAPAN — Consistency is key when learning a language; that’s why Duolingo doesn’t spare any effort in reminding its learners to do their lessons every single day.
Unfortunately, during the holiday season when exciting plans with friends and family mean push notifications are ignored, reminder emails are left unread, and taking daily language lessons fall low down on the list of priorities. So, when the global language learning app decided to find a fun way to remind everyone to do their lessons during the holiday season, creative agency UltraSuperNew turned to one of Japan’s most puzzling Christmas traditions: having a bucket of fried chicken as a Christmas Eve meal (it’s so popular that supplies will sell out weeks in advance of December 24).
Krispy Fried Duo (KFD) is a delicious alternative to the traditional fried chicken bucket, made (supposedly) with actual parts from Duolingo’s mascot owl, Duo. Making the ultimate sacrifice, Duo volunteered his tastiest and greenest pieces, had them chopped, deep-fried, and placed inside a KFD (Krispy Fried Duo) bucket, and offered them to those exemplary learners that completed their lessons even on Christmas Eve.
The campaign started as an influencer-led push in the week leading up to December 24. TikTok and X posts showed a series of entertaining content launching Duo’s lightbulb moment in offering Krispy FriedDuo to those in need of fried delights.
Another video featured one of the biggest cooking influencers in Japan helping Duo come up with the right recipe.
There’s even a spicy challenge where Duo personally delivered a super hot version of the KFD bucket and challenged an influencer to eat it while doing Duolingo, as punishment for skipping his lessons.
Finally, on December 24, when almost every other bucket in the city was sold out, Duo himself came to Shibuya, Tokyo’s busiest district, and handed out buckets of KFD to those who showed him on the Duolingo app that they had done their lessons that day.
