What’s scarier: the pink-suited guards from Squid Game or a dozen unread notifications from the Duolingo owl?
Ahead of the Dec. 26 premiere of season 2 of the Netflix megahit, the streaming service and the language-learning platform are pulling out owl the stops to get you to learn Korean. (Yes, that’s my pun.) A team-up between the companies is bringing more than 40 keywords and phrases from the series to Duolingo’s Korean course, including “piggy bank,” “attention players” and “you’ve been eliminated.”
Squid Game season 1 debuted in 2021 and featured desperate individuals competing in lethal children’s games to win a staggering amount of money. Duolingo marketing exec Manu Orssaud said in a release that Duolingo saw a 40% increase in Korean learners right after that season.
In the series, guards dressed in masks and pink jumpsuits enforce the rules. The Netflix and Duolingo partnership plays on the similar qualities that the intimidating villains share with Duolingo’s bird mascot.
“We discovered there were a lot of shared traits between Duo the Owl and the Pink Guards — both very determined and menacing,” Magno Herran, Netflix’s vice president of partner and brand marketing, said in the release.
Squid Game and Duolingo’s “Learn Korean or Else” campaign also includes a Duo-starring music video, billboards in NYC and LA, and more. While the show offers heart-pounding drama, the Duolingo content seems to have a lighter tone. In a teaser, some guards stand at attention as Duo struts out in the signature uniform, cutting the tension with his squeaky shoes.
