Duolingo takes over Shanghai this Halloween via FRED & FARID Shanghai campaign

Following Duolingo’s recent appointment of FRED & FARID Shanghai to ideate and create social media content for the brand in mainland China, the duo has brought to life ‘Trick or Streak’, a new activation preventing Halloween revelers in Shanghai from carelessly losing their streaks.

The campaign pays tribute to Duolingo’s infamous streak—the count of consecutive days a user engages with the app, which ruthlessly resets to zero if a lesson isn’t completed within a day, unless a streak freeze is activated in advance.

It all started in Fred & Farid Shanghai’s in-house studio with the creation of Duo’s costume—a spooky DIY skeleton with neon lights. The goal was to bring the brand’s sassy green owl to life on a budget, amplifying its persona and connection with the real world.

And like local authorities who patrolled the downtown streets over the weekend to prevent rowdy Halloween celebrations in China’s most international city (source: reuters), they too are haunting every party, reminding everyone to open the app and keep their streaks alive.

The challenge is simple: invite every Halloween partygoer in the streets of Shanghai to show us their ongoing streak or complete it in front of DUO Skeleton himself if they’ve forgotten (to err is human, after all). They might be the ultimate party crasher, but they’ll thank us in the morning – because when the party ends, learning goes on.

‘Trick or Streak’ is taking to the streets of Shanghai and spreading nationwide on social media, particularly on Douyin (TikTok’s local counterpart) and the popular lifestyle platform RED.