Find A Duck On Your Jeep? The Viral Duck Jeep Game Explained
by Brianna Allison
This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Brianna Allison. Find her on Instagram at @ballison7. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Last week, I was putting my groceries into my car and saw a rubber duck and a small card sitting on the driver’s side handle of the Jeep parked next to me. At first, I instantly panicked and thought it was a human trafficking tactic (because you never know these days). But, as I took my cart back, I saw that the Jeep’s dashboard was full of rubber ducks of all shapes, sizes, colors and designs. Needless to say, I was a little confused. It obviously wasn’t something dangerous, so maybe it was some kind of game or joke?
Of course, I turned to Google to answer all my questions, and everything was cleared up pretty quickly. Jeep Ducking (also referred to as Duck, Duck, Jeep) is a fun game that Jeep drivers play with each other.
Now it’s my turn to answer your long-awaited question: what the duck is this Jeep Duck game?
What is Jeep Ducking?
The game is easy, and anyone who owns a jeep can partake in it if they want! Essentially, a Jeep owner takes a rubber duck —one that they bought or one that was given to them— and they pass it along to another Jeep owner.
You can place the rubber duck anywhere on the Jeep, as long as it’s easily noticeable and not dangerous for the driver. It can go on the hood, a door handle or on the mirror. The duck should also include a card or a note to say that the Jeep has been ducked! You can even write some encouraging words, a note complimenting the Jeep, your social media handle or even your business card. Lastly, you need to write #duckingjeeps and #duckduckjeep on either the note or the duck! This is so all the Jeeps that are ducked can be found on social media if the owner chooses to share a picture of it.
How did it start?
Jeep ducking started in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, back when everyone just needed a little extra kindness and a reason to smile. Allison Parliament, the creator of the Jeep ducking game, had no idea how big the movement would become. She just knew that she loved Jeeps. Allison had grown up around them, learned to drive in her family’s Jeep and even had one of her own.
Allison, who is originally from Canada, was living in Alabama during the pandemic. However, when the world started to shut down, she decided to head home and be with her family. After Allison drove 20 hours, she stopped at a gas station in Canada. When a man saw her Alabama license plate, he began to physically assault her. He grabbed her and shoved her up against her car. She was traumatized by this encounter and decided she needed a different car to drive. Understandably, Allison also wanted to be away from people.
So, she drove to her great uncle’s small town a couple of hours north and stayed at his house. Thankfully, he had several vehicles that she could borrow, so she didn’t have to worry about her Alabama plate. While living with her uncle, Allison and her cousin would play tricks and “torture” one another. So while out one day, Allison bought a bag of rubber ducks to hide for her cousin to find throughout the house.
Suddenly, a Jeep in the parking lot caught her attention. She decided to write “nice Jeep” on one of the ducks and left it on the handle of the Jeep. The owner of the Jeep saw Allison leave the duck for him and asked what she was doing. Allison explained that she was just complimenting his Jeep, and all she had was a rubber duck to do so. The two laughed and went on their way.
After telling her cousin about her duck dilemma, they both decided that they wanted to start a trend by leaving ducks on other Jeeps. They wanted to do it because it brought so much joy, not only to the person that left the duck but also to the one that found it. They felt that the random act of kindness would be good for people, especially when many were left feeling isolated and depressed during the pandemic.
After that, Allison and her cousin created the Duck Duck Jeep page on Instagram and an Official Ducking Jeeps Facebook page. Within months, both pages grew with thousands of followers. Today, their Instagram page has over 45,000 followers, and their Facebook group has over 68,000 members. There are hundreds of thousands of people who use their hashtags to share their Jeeps being ducked.
The Rules of the Game
If you want to be a part of the game, the rules are pretty simple!
- Have a Jeep! It can be any Jeep, from a Wrangler or Grand Cherokee to a Renegade. All Jeeps can be ducked. If you’re Jeep-less and feeling a little left out, I guess you can still play, but you probably won’t be getting any ducks in return if that makes a difference.
- Next, make sure you have some rubber ducks. They can be any color, any size or any design — there are no restrictions when it comes to the ducks you can give! Either buy some online to keep in your Jeep, or recycle the ones that you are given!
If you want to buy some to pass out to other Jeep owners, here are some options:
3. Now comes the most important step in the game: make sure to mark the ducks with some tags/notes! You can buy them online or make them yourself, and then tie them to the duck’s neck. You can even write on the duck if you have room! These notes are essential because they help to inform the owner of the Jeep ducking game. The note lets them know what the duck is for and has the hashtags to use if they decide to share a picture of their duck. They can even include the name of a Jeep group that you’re a part of or your social media handle so they can get in touch with you. And of course, make sure you’re spreading positivity and smiles! So if you want to write a short encouraging note or a compliment, then feel free!
Here are some tags that you can buy online that are great to add to your duck:
4. Since you have all your ducks in a row, you can start spreading them on all the Jeeps that you see around town. Leave them anywhere that is safe and visible, so they’re noticed by the Jeep’s driver or passenger! Most importantly, make sure not to cause any damage to the Jeep. It’s supposed to be fun and not cause any safety issues.
5. And if you get ducked, you can keep the duck on your dashboard for everyone to see, pass it along to the next Jeep or give it to a kid and make their day — the choice is yours!
Jeep owners have always been a tight community — it’s a Jeep thing. Now that you know Jeep owners share more than just “the Jeep wave,” you can partake in this fun pandemic trend or try to look for a rubber duck next time you see a Jeep!
What do you think of the Jeep duck game? What do you think the Jeep community will do next?