The Anatomy of a Super Bowl Ad | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Duolingo’s five-second Super Bowl ad succeeded by turning a severe budget constraint into a creative advantage. Its deliberately absurd “unhinged Duo” gag, paired with a real lesson reminder, was designed to create a memorable WTF moment and generate conversation beyond the broadcast. The campaign depended on close coordination between marketing, engineering, and the brand studio.

Aiming for Culture and Conversation

• Duolingo saw the Super Bowl as a chance to reach the year’s largest live U.S. audience.
• The goal was not merely exposure, but earned media, virality, and word-of-mouth.
• Previous data showed that major broadcasts could drive language-learning activity:
  • Users completed lessons during Eurovision breaks.
  • A prior Super Bowl push notification produced the app’s highest engagement.
• The team decided to make the ad itself function as a lesson reminder.

Turning a Budget Constraint into a Format

• A 30-second Super Bowl commercial cost about $7 million on average in 2023.
• Rather than compete with longer, more expensive ads, Duolingo pursued a five-second spot.
• The team looked to short ads such as Reddit’s 2021 commercial as examples of compact ideas that could expand through social media.
• The intended result was tens of millions of social impressions generated by a highly shareable moment.

Designing the “WTF Moment”

• The ad featured Duo sitting in a white frame before turning around and revealing an exaggerated, balloon-like backside.
• A second Duo emerged with a flatulent sound, followed by the message “Do your Duolingo.”
• Simultaneously, users received a push notification reminding them to complete a lesson.
• The crude humor built on Duo’s existing reputation as both wholesome and “unhinged,” matching the brand’s relationship with its online community.

Cross-Functional Brainstorming

• The first of three brainstorming sessions began in September after the ad slot was secured.
• The brief asked: “How do we hack and own the Super Bowl conversation in 5 seconds?”
• Marketing, engineering, and brand teams divided into breakout groups and developed concepts in FigJam.
• Ideas were evaluated for whether they would:
  • Produce a strong reaction and social buzz
  • Fit Duolingo’s tone and strengthen the brand
  • Support additional campaign content
  • Demonstrate Duolingo’s product capabilities
• Groups nominated their best ideas, and the wider team voted on them using FigJam stickers.

Aligning on a Big Idea

• One brainstorm was not enough to reach agreement.
• The teams reconvened in another FigJam session to evaluate concepts through different strategic approaches, including ways to exploit the five-second television format.
• The eventual campaign required several weeks of synchronized work across creative, marketing, engineering, and design.

Duolingo’s approach demonstrates how a sharply defined constraint can produce stronger creative work. A short, distinctive concept—when aligned with existing brand behavior, product functionality, and coordinated distribution—can outperform a conventional expensive commercial.