Ducks and Jeeps go hand in hand like, um…?
Jeep owners share a culture that many non-Jeep owners never understand. The connection that Jeep drivers share is an unspoken bond. Lately, they share ducks. Wait, what? What the duck?!
If you walk past a Jeep and you see rubber ducks lined up in the window you may be left scratching your head. Why ducks? Why are they lined up in the window? What is this phenomenon all about?
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Ducking is an International Phenomenon
‘Duck Duck Jeep’ or ‘Jeep Ducking,’ as it’s referred to, started in Ontario, Canada in 2020 by Allison Parliament. In an interview with automoblog.com, Parliament talks about the roots of Duck Duck Jeep. It actually began with a hostile interaction in Canada. She is a dual citizen, and had driven her Jeep with Alabama plates on it back home to Canada to care for family. At a gas station stop, she was confronted and shoved into her Jeep, the assailant telling her she wasn’t “welcome here.”
Parliament was so rattled and couldn’t get past it until she and a friend went out shopping. She had a habit of leaving goofy things in his house whenever she would have to leave, and while they were out she bought a bag of rubber ducks with the intent of leaving one behind in his house. Heading out into the parking lot, she saw a Jeep that she thought was amazing. So she grabbed one of the ducks out of her bag, wrote “Nice Rig” on it and tucked it into the rearview mirror.
Turns out the Jeep owner saw this happen and when he came out of the store, he told Parliament “how amazing it was that we put this duck on his mirror.” It gave Allison a bit of positivity, lifting her spirits after the hostile interaction months before. Later that night, she posted about it on Instagram and used #duckduckjeep as the tag. The fun trick went viral, and it’s now so common it has an app.
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So How do I Go About Ducking?
The idea for Jeep owners is that you purchase a few rubber ducks to have on hand. Ideally, you have a note attached to the duck that typically reads that they have been “Ducked” by another Jeep owner. They are then encouraged to keep the smile going and share their picture on social media, as well as play along by ‘ducking’ other fellow Jeepers.
The Jeeps can be any model, any style or have any modifications you find ducktastic! There are very few rules to “ducking,” however some take it more seriously than others. Some color coordinate the color of the duck to the color of the Jeep, while others will hand out seasonal ducks according to what holiday is near, others look for ducks that are unique and just plain fun.
To date, Parliament has given out over 20,000 ducks on her own; seems she achieved her goal several times over!
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Jeep Embraces the Ducking and Duck Duck Jeep
Jeep got in on the fun at the latest North America International Auto Show in Detroit, bringing in a duck weighing a whopping 8,000 pounds and standing six-stories tall (61 feet to be exact) making it the perfect backdrop for social media fans.
There is Even a new App Called ‘Duckd’
This app keeps a permanent log of all of your Duckings, ones given and ones received. Your Ducking events are visible only to you on an interactive map. The Duckd app also allows you to take photos of your Ducking activities and even build a library of Duckies with names, personalities and life events.
This app is easy to use, once it is set up, a Ducker is able to Duck a Jeep, log the Ducking and take a photo in a matter of seconds! If you so choose, you can create your own Ducking handle and share your Duckings on a World Map and watch how your personal Ducking adventures compare to other Duckers.
Ducking on Social Media
On Facebook, our friend Kathy Graham recently posted that she had been Ducked. It was fun to watch the story unfold as she and a friend realized it was the friend who had Ducked her! Kathy posted the pic, and then a friend mentioned that she and her daughter had been giving out ducks that looked like that over the holidays. They compared notes and realized they were in the same place and it was the friend that Ducked Kathy.
Adding to the fun of getting Ducked was that Kathy had a special passenger with her when it happened. Kathy says, ” I had my 6-year old granddaughter with me and we had talked about the ducking earlier in the week and she was so excited too we got ducked.” What a cool experience!
‘Ducking’ has become so popular that you can now find over 214,000 posts on instagram using the hashtag #duckduckjeep.
And though my older 2015 Jeep has seen its share of love and has a few ducks to its name, I have never wanted a new Jeep like I do now!
