Taco Bell Is Apparently Teaming Up With Duolingo…On A Sauce

There are mascots that brands try to embed into your everyday lives – and then there’s the Duolingo owl. Arguably the pushiest of them all, anyone who’s ever downloaded Duolingo, taken four language lessons, and then promptly lost their streak while they got on with something else in their life will be well-acquainted with this little green bird. And not necessarily in a good way. Shaming, passive-aggression, emotional manipulation: These are just a few of the tactics customers feel the company uses to get you back into its app, and they’re all delivered via a cartoon feathered owl. 

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Strange world we live in, isn’t it? It’s about to get a bit stranger. The Duolingo owl is now, apparently, finding yet another way to remind you to brush up on your French skills: Via your Taco Bell sauce packets. A collab may be coming, and it might be the strangest one we’ve heard all year.

Taco Bell x Duolingo

A couple of weeks ago, rumblings started appearing online that Taco Bell might be teaming up with Duolingo on a new sauce. Before we get into the why of it all, let’s assess the evidence. The first concrete bit of information we could find was on Reddit, where someone who seemed to be an employee posted a picture of a company document displaying key upcoming events. One of them, dated October 6, stated, “Duolingo Sauce Packet Start Sell.”

Naturally, this prompted a lot of chatter, but things then went a bit quiet for a few weeks, until Instagram accounts @markie_devo and @alwayslivingmas (the former a food influencer, the latter a Taco Bell fan community page) collaborated on a post about the sauce, with more information. Apparently, Taco Bell and Duolingo will be releasing a limited-edition Duo Habanero Sauce. They stated that the sauce will be available with the purchase of either version of Doritos Locos Tacos or a Doritos Cheesy Gordita Crunch. October 6, incidentally, is National Taco Day, and a comment on the post by an apparent Taco Bell employee confirmed the sauce and said that it would be a one-day-only affair. 

So…essentially, it’s habanero sauce in a branded packet. Nothing wild, nothing too out-there – but a bizarre collaboration.

But…Why?

Your guess is as good as mine. It’s hardly unusual for Taco Bell to make a left-field choice to try and get people talking, as it has done here. Duolingo, meanwhile, loves working with brands you wouldn’t expect (Scrub Daddy, “Resident Evil”, Chess.com, “Squid Game” – take your pick). If you like super-niche collaborations, this one might be for you. If not, I would not be in the least bit surprised.