The Originator of the Duck Duck Jeep Movement Has Passed Away

Chris Teague
by Chris Teague

One of the things that seems to divide Jeep owners more than other issues is the little rubber ducks seen on dashboards at trails across the country. While they seem to be everywhere now, “ducking” Jeeps is a relatively new phenomenon, having only started during the pandemic. Sadly, though, the person behind the cheerful movement recently passed away.


Allison Parliament started placing rubber ducks on Jeeps during a pandemic-era road trip. After an unpleasant experience with a person at a gas station, she decided to spread some joy by writing a note on a duck and leaving it on the door handle of a modified Wrangler. The owner noticed her efforts and suggested she post a photo on social media, causing the hashtag to go viral.

That set off a surprising tide of people sharing colorful rubber ducks with other members of the community. Jeep noticed her efforts and 60-foot inflatable duck outside the 2022 Detroit Auto Show, and the movement has gone international, with “duckings” reported on at least six continents.


Parliament, who became synonymous with the practice, made her last Instagram post on June 16.

“I got ducked today,” was the message, and her passing has brought a swell of support from the Jeep community. Several people took to Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms to voice their support for Parliament and the community she created, and regardless of how you feel about “ducking,” a little more kindness and understanding is something we can all appreciate.

[Images: Davslens, Dolores M. Harvey, and Fillipo Carlot via Shutterstock]


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Chris Teague
Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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  • Wolfwagen Wolfwagen 2 days ago

    I never knew about this until my daughter started to date her boyfriend who is a jeep guy. He had so many he gave her a bunch for her MINI Convertible

  • Lou_BC Lou_BC 2 days ago

    I'll see how this goes once my CJ5 is on the road.

    I've seen a ducky "duck you" version.

  • Ajla I do not think the IQS metric is useless but JD Power doesn't give enough data to the public to have a big impact on consumer decisions.
  • OrpheusSail My mom swapped her Oldsmobile station wagon for one of these when I was in high school. I remember the Infinity stereo sounding nice and the A/C being strong. I'd pick my little brother up from Little League, and he'd sit in the middle seat and have me point the center vents on the dash at him and turn it on full blast.
  • SCE to AUX When will the comments formatting be fixed?
  • Durailer I forgot how these things kind of resembled XJs in the rear quarter. Nice find!When we were kids, we actually wanted our parents to buy one of these so we wouldn’t have to squeeze 3 in the backseat. My dad would refrain, “Volvo doesn’t make minivans for a reason.” In hindsight, our childhood complaint was nothing compared to how my grandparents’ generation would squeeze larger families in their sedans.
  • Blueice Speaking about defects, has anyone ever axe the driverof an Aldi vehicle, what the four rings represent ? It is the most unknown badge of any vehicle. Perhaps themanufacture could add each letter, to the for mentioned rings. The closest replies were, the Olympics, Hula-Hoops, holes-in-family-budget, nose rings and bug deflector. Money, simply can not purchaseintelligence; axe college graduates.
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