Promoting cars with inflatable objects is just ducky
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Senior Editor
Michigan Bureau
The Auto Channel
2022 Detroit Auto Show Report
Auto Central Detroit Car September 30, 2022; Auto dealers who have used inflatable dinosaurs, King Kong, Frankenstein and more have inspired this year’s Detroit Auto Show to add the world’s largest rubber duck to its roster of entertainment sources.
Show attendees, downtown workers and those across the river in Windsor, Canada, could see this duck in all his glory, holding court for the length of the Detroit Auto Show, September 17 – 25.
Big Duck LLC is part of the Jeep exhibit and its Duck Duck Jeep campaign, the duck travels all over North America to festivals and fairgrounds. Jeep hands out bath-size duckies to visitors old and young.
The duck sits on a new patio next to the Huntington Place convention hall formerly known as Cobo Hall. It is six stories tall (61 ft/18.5 m), 69 ft wide (21 m), and 79 ft (24 m) across, making it the world's largest duck; weighing 8,000 lbs. The Auto Show sponsors recruited the duck’s handler, Craig Sameorski, of Duluth, Minn.
While Sameorski didn’t reveal a price for use of his big duck, he makes a decent living. In each town he takes out his Rad electric bike and spins around the town making new friends.
Jeep was a brilliant combination. Jeep owners have a tradition of placing small rubber ducks on the windshield of other Jeep owner’s vehicles, called “ducking.” Owners are encouraged to pass it along, create a whole community of duck loving, Jeep driving friends.
All this Jeep fanfare is new to Sameorski,, who wanted an inflatable object to please crowds and make a living. He had hauled a giant pirate ship around the country when the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise was popular. The ship sprung a leak. A friend recommended a big duck.
The first duck was a victim of high winds. So he redesigned the tether lines, two on the inside, two on the outside, to stabilize the duck in any condition. The duck takes 45 minutes to inflate with 133,000 cubic feet of air. He uses four hurricane blowers to inflate and keep inflated.
Where does he go next? He is so busy answering questions about the auto show he couldn’t say more. Could be a dealership near your house. Caution, it will up the entire parking lot leaving no room for sale cars. If the duck came unmoored, he could take a bath in the Detroit River.
Visit his website at www.thebigduck.us.
