We will discuss the term “jeep ducking” in this article. For outsiders looking in, offroading seems like an activity so tough and serious. However, there are adorable little quirks within the Jeep community that only make sense to members.
Would you have ever guessed that cute little rubber ducks are a significant part of owning a Jeep now? Yes, these toys are not only found in children’s bathrooms. A parked Jeep is where you will likely find them next.
It all started with a wholesome encounter that quickly became a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
What is Jeep ducking?
Jeep ducking is a game that recently became popular in the Jeep community where a Jeep owner leaves a little rubber duck in or on another Jeep. The purpose? To show appreciation and spread good vibes. It’s like saying, “You’ve got a nice car!†but in Jeep-speak.
How did it all begin?
It all began in July 2020. Allison Parliament, a dual citizen of both the US and Canada, was traveling to Ontario from Alabama. She stopped in this one Canadian town to fill up her then-new 2018 Jeep Wrangler Sahara at a small gas station.
However, it wasn’t the friendly welcome she was expecting. A guy approached her, yelling that she was an American trying to spread the Covid-19 virus on Canadian soil. The guy even shoved her back into her American license plate-bearing Jeep.
Traumatized by the attack, Parliament went and stayed with her friend for a bit and refused to leave her friend’s house. Her friend Peter encouraged her to continue the journey to her parent’s home. As a little silly joke before she left, Parliament decided buying a bag of rubber ducks to hide around her friend’s house to prank him was a brilliant idea.
Walking out of the store with a bag of rubber ducks, Parliament and another friend saw a gorgeous Jeep. She thought it would be fun to make someone else’s day by leaving a nice little something for the Jeep owner. A thing Parliament admitted she always had with her was a Sharpie. And so, equipped with a sharpie and a bag of rubber ducks at her disposal, the first ducking happened right there and then. She wrote “nice jeep†on one rubber duck and placed it on the Jeep. However, she was caught by the Jeep owner, and they had a good laugh over the pleasant incident.
Parliament wrote about it on her Instagram; many were amused and thought it cool. Later that day, Parliament and her friends went around town placing rubber ducks on more Jeeps.
The first person to have ever been ducked had apparently been watching Parliament and her friend do the whole thing–from writing the message on the duck to leaving it on his Jeep. When people on social media caught wind of the ducking incident, Parliament decided to create a Facebook group for the community she accidentally started. The first guy was one of the first members of the group.
It went viral and took off like wildfire. The game is now popularly called the “Duck Duck Jeep.†People started buying rubber ducks and looking out for Jeeps to place them on. Others get so creative about it–they add stickers, notes, and tags to the ducks. Some Jeepers display all the ducks they got on their dash like a badge of honor. There is even a website dedicated to the whole game. It’s where you can buy Jeep ducking merchandise such as custom license plates, tags, shirts, and even phone cases.
Today, “Official Jeep Ducking Est.2020†the Facebook group that Parliament started, has 65,000 members worldwide. The first rule of the group: “All Jeeps Welcomeâ€.
