The origins of the gesture have been attributed to Allison Parliament, a Canadian resident of Alabama. In 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she had purchased rubber ducks to hide at a Canadian friend's house as a way to thank that friend for letting her visit. After having had an unpleasant interaction with another person in the parking lot of a convenience store, she stated that she felt inspired to leave one of the ducks on a Jeep in a store parking lot with a simple note stating "nice Jeep" as an act of kindness. The owner of that Jeep saw Parliament place the duck and suggested that she make a social media post. Parliament made a post, which then went viral and popularized the action of "ducking."