In 2020, Alison Parliament started the trend of “Jeep Ducking” or “Duck Duck Jeep,” in which Jeep owners would place rubber ducks in each other’s cars and proudly display the gifted duck on their dashboard. The trend quickly caught on.
Recently, TikTok user and Toyota owner Shea Davenport (@shea_davenport) put a new spin on the trend, declaring on TikTok that “Jeep ducks are overdue.”
“We all know the Jeep guys have little ducks, but have you heard of the Toyota Turtle?” she teased, showing viewers a lime green toy turtle. Another woman also appears in the video, holding a box full of toy turtles that look exactly like the one Sia is holding.
Toyota’s turtle appears as an object
“We only put the Turtle on top-of-the-line Toyotas, like this Corolla with 400,000 miles on it, but never on a Jeep,” Shay jokes.
Similar to the Jeep trend, Sia placed a turtle on the dashboard of a Toyota. Throughout the video, she performs the “Toyota Turtle” in six different cars.
At one point, Thea bumped into a Toyota owner and, after explaining the meaning of the turtles, pleaded that “Jeep people can’t be the only ones having fun.”
Jeeps are revered as unique vehicles with a tight-knit community of owners, while Toyotas are known for being reliable and off-the-shelf. Through the trend, Thea aims to bring the same appreciation and joy enjoyed by Jeep enthusiasts to Toyota owners.
She ends the video by asking her viewers, “Let me know if you have a pet turtle!”
The viral video has received over 2.3 million views and 11,300 total views.
Many Toyota owners expressed concern about this new trend.
“If someone put a Toyota Turtle in my car I would scream (for joy),” one person said.
“My mom loves this! (She has a Toyota) Toyota needs toys too,” commented another user.
Not only did the Toyota Turtle resonate with Toyota customers, other car owners also took to the comments section to share their possible names for their own vehicle mascots.
“We need to band together to spread the Honda Hippos trend,” one viewer wrote.
“Ok Ford Frogs, here we go,” shared another user.
“Nissan Narwhal, anyone?” a viewer added.
@shea_davenport Jeep ducks are outdated. #ToyotaTurtle @Toyota ♬ original sound – shea_davenport
“Kia koala (I might have a Kia),” commented another viewer.
The Daily Dot reached out to Hsieh in his TikTok comments and to Toyota via email.
Amara Thomas
Amara Thomas is a freelance writer and cultural activist whose work has appeared in The FADER, Village Voice, Gothamist, Highsnobiety, and more.
