Sometimes, you have to kill your darlings—and, apparently, your mascots.

In 2020, the snack-food company Planters announced that its mascot, Mr. Peanut, was dead. The stunt, eventually revealed to be part of a Super Bowl campaign in which Baby Nut was born, quickly prompted brands like Mr. Clean and Snickers to jump in on the public mourning.

Five years later, it’s déjà vu all over again, this time with the victims being Duolingo’s mascot, Duo the Owl, and his friends Falstaff, Zari, and Lily. The language-learning app announced Duo’s death on February 11 and followed it up with vague posts that encouraged mourning and speculation about what killed the mascots (a Cybertruck, in Duo’s case) and what would bring them back (users completing language-learning lessons on the app). Once again, brands including Scrub Daddy, Byoma, and Tarte were quick to join in with their own posts and comments responding to the death of the owl. Even Dua Lipa sent her condolences. Two weeks later, Duolingo revived the bird with a video stating, “Legends never die.”

When it comes to engagement, the stunt seems to have paid off: According to ad management platform Metricool, Duolingo’s engagement across platforms increased 346% in the days after its initial post, with a 52% engagement rate on the Instagram announcement alone.

But not everyone was amused, and certain aspects of the campaign have raised questions about shock value marketing and how far is too far. Given the high amount of brand participation in the campaign, experts told us they expect to see other marketers take inspiration from Duo’s death, for better or worse—so what should they consider before throwing their main character under the bus (or truck)?

Read more here on marketers’ thoughts on mascot murder.—KH

Olipop is now the official soda of Los Angeles Golf Club, the two organizations exclusively shared with Marketing Brew.

The deal, LAGC’s first brand sponsorship, is set to run through 2025, including for the current season of TGL, the team-based golf league created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in 2022. It marks the latest in a series of major sports sponsorships for Olipop as the brand looks to build its base with new consumer groups and differentiate itself amid growing competition in the prebiotic-soda category.

“I love being early and new in things,” Steven Vigilante, Olipop’s director of strategic partnerships, told us. “You get to beta test stuff together, and we’re just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. I love that, as opposed to entering into some big old thing with all these rules defined already. We’re writing the rules together here.”

Fore! Olipop has been developing its sports sponsorship portfolio across leagues like the NWSL, MLS, NBA, and Nascar in the past several years, and the partnership with LAGC marks the brand’s first foray into golf, according to Vigilante. Stepping into golf is part of an effort to gain ground with new demographics, which, in this case, is millennial men, he said.

“We’ve obviously way over-indexed on the young, female demo over the years,” Vigilante said. “The bigger we get, the more we hear from husbands and boyfriends that they’re drinking Olipop, too. We just hit 50% brand awareness nationally in January, and we’re crossing that chasm where we really need to be a product for everybody.”

Read more here about what both organizations are hoping to achieve through the partnership. —AM

The corporate tug-of-war over DEI continues.

Last week, Apple and John Deere shareholders voted against anti-DEI proposals, while some other companies walked back their diversity efforts.

It’s all playing out against the backdrop of an executive order from President Trump that aims to stop federal support for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, which was temporarily blocked by a federal judge late last month. Even with some moves on hold, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a memo in February stating that the Department of Justice intends to “investigate, eliminate, and penalize” DEI programs in the private sector and educational institutions that receive federal funds, with a report expected by March 1.

Holding the line: Last Tuesday, Apple shareholders rejected a proposal that would have ended its DEI programs, as proposed by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) conservative think tank—a rejection that the president immediately criticized. A similar proposal from the NCPPR was rejected by Costco shareholders a few weeks ago; the company has reportedly seen a 7% YoY increase in foot traffic since the start of the year, according to Business Insider.

A day later, John Deere, a company that last summer announced it would walk back DEI efforts like participating in or supporting “external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events,” saw its shareholders reject a proposal from the conservative National Legal and Policy Center to annually report hiring numbers related to race and gender.

Other companies, including e.l.f, Ben & Jerry’s, Microsoft, Lush, and Patagonia, have affirmed their commitments to DEI in the last month.

Read more here about which brands have changed their DEI commitments.—KH

Executive moves across the industry.

• Shake Shack CMO Jay Livingston is leaving the company at the end of March.
• Revolt, a global creative consultancy, hired Futerra North America and OgilvyEarth alum Freya Williams as chief strategy officer for North America.
• Ulta Beauty promoted Kelly Mahoney, formerly the brand’s SVP of customer and growth marketing, to CMO.