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'Jeep Ducking' Is a Thing. Here's How It Started

'Jeep Ducking' is a way for Jeep enthusiasts to spread joy
By Steve Huff,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 15, 2023 9:30 AM CDT
Why Jeep Owners Have a Thing for Rubber Ducks
   (Getty Images / valio84sl)

Duck vs. Jeep situations usually end badly for the duck. But the viral "Jeep Ducking" trend has turned that equation on its head. As the Wall Street Journal reports, "Jeep ducking" is a playful act with a somewhat literal name: It involves placing a rubber duck on another person's Jeep, sometimes accompanied by a note encouraging them to pay it forward. The act of "Jeep ducking" serves to foster a sense of camaraderie among Jeep owners, who are already particularly tight (they have their own way of waving at each other, for instance). The Journal tracks the tradition's start to Jeep Wrangler owner Allison Parliament, who says she first placed one on another Jeep in June 2020—as "everything felt like it was falling apart" amidst the pandemic.

Reader's Digest own recounting of that first ducking explains that Parliament placed a single yellow duck on a tricked-out Jeep in the parking lot of a store where she had bought a bunch more ducks to put in a friend's apartment as a light-hearted thank you. She left "a simple, sweet note saying 'nice Jeep'" with the duck, per Reader's Digest, which adds the Jeep owner saw her and suggested that she post a photo on social media. She did, and things have grown sharply from there: The Ducking Jeep Facebook group stands at 76,000 members.

Online car site Hemmings noted that "Jeep ducking" is so popular it inspired its own line of merchandise, such as labeled "duck it bucket(s)" and "duck landing pads" for different models of Jeep. Hemmings also provided a template for anyone who might want to spread the joy, suggesting notes that accompany a duck could simply read "Nice Jeep," "Duck, duck Jeep," or "Your Jeep has been ducked." Different approaches are easy to find on various social media sites just by searching hashtags such as #duckingjeeps. (More Jeep stories.)

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