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Unpopular opinion: that Duolingo owl guilt-trip tweet is why I deleted the app for 8 days
Ngl I cracked up when Duolingo posted that fake text thread where the owl shows up at a user's door, but then I realized I had a 940 day streak and the ad worked on me in reverse. This happened 2 weeks ago on a random Thursday, I was scrolling before work, saw the post, and felt this weird guilt like the mascot was personally disappointed in me. So I ignored the app for 8 days straight, which is the longest I've skipped it since 2019, and my streak died in the most dramatic way possible. Tbh what got me was how the brand leaned so hard into being the clingy ex that users already joke about, and I think that is exactly why it flopped for me even while it blew up online. Everyone in the comments was tagging their friends saying haha this is you, but almost nobody was like wow time to do a lesson. Honestly I think guilt as a marketing bit only works until the person realizes the guilt is the whole point, then it just feels annoying. Curious if anyone else here has had an ad for an app they use daily backfire on them like that, or am I just a baby about a cartoon bird.
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anna_ross1912d ago
That clingy ex bit got me too, then I ghosted my fitness app for a month.
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seanlee12d ago
Ghosting apps is just ghosting with extra steps.
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