Campaign Critique: The Strategic “Marriage” of Duolingo and Luckin Coffee (2025)

Abstract

This article makes a critical public relations analysis of the 2025 joint marketing campaign of Duolingo and Luckin Coffee in China. Although the “marriage” narrative has successfully exploited the subculture and algorithm fluctuations of the network to achieve huge digital exposure and short-term sales surge. But in-depth analysis shows that it has obvious public relations limitations. The campaign simplifies the complex audience into simple “meme-consumers”, prioritizing superficial influence over sustainable community building, and covering up Duolingo’s core educational values through the risk of missing information. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the key gap between performance digital indicators and long-term reputation capital. To achieve this goal, the evaluation is based on three core theoretical frameworks: spreadable media, pseudo-events, and brand community definitions. Finally, it makes strategic proposals to shift from symbolic narratives to functional and relationship driven ecosystems.