B.C. man hands out free ‘Duckana’ stickers to hatch happiness

"Do something that brings joy." Adam finds out how a man is being inspired to hatch happiness by a viral statue that's half duck half banana.

VICTORIA — Although it’s been years since he remembers first seeing it, Geoff de Ruiter will never forget the online post.

“It was a fellow who had just left the store saying, ‘Watch out everybody! There’s only one left!’” Geoff smiles.

Just one statue left — featuring a duck with a banana body — and a debatable name.

“There’s Duckana and then there’s Ducknana,” Geoff says. Like “poe-tay-toe/poe-ta-toe” and “toe-may-toe/toe-mah-toe,” either will do.

No matter how it was pronounced, Geoff thought it sounded wonderful.

“I thought, that’s something ridiculous,” Geoff recalls. “I love it!”

Geoff wasn’t alone. The Duckana went viral on Reddit, inspired countless comments, store sellouts, and appearances on late night TV.

“I myself didn’t run out and get one,” Geoff says. “But I tried to fuel the fire of other people.”

When he wasn’t posting a Photoshopped picture online, claiming to have donated an $8,000 bronze Duckana to the city as an April Fool’s joke, Geoff was organizing a meet-and-greet beside a popular duck pond for Duckana fans to flock to.

“So everybody could get together and have a fun time,” Geoff says. “I bought like 127 bananas for people.”

But the real appeal — pun intended — was building a sense of community through something silly.

“It was amazing,” Geoff smiles. “It was super fun.”

It was all that and more until it really wasn’t a thing anymore. Until years later, Geoff happened upon a diminutive Duckana and decided to buy it as a souvenir of a silly time.

Geoff named him D’Avian Pekinski, after ‘avian,’ which means relating to birds, and ‘Pekin,’ which is a type of duck.

Recently, Geoff was inspired to spread his wings and make hundreds of Duckana stickers.

“As sort of a memento memorial of the Duckana craze,” Geoff explains.

Now, when he’s not handing them out at the most recent Duckana gathering, or leaving them for people to pick up at his climbing gym Craig X, he’s offering them to strangers for free.

“Oh! Thank you so much,” a child says, before vowing to stick it on her water bottle.

“I like it!” says a tourist visiting the city. “I think it’s hilarious.”

“It’s cool,” says a man who remembers the Duckana craze fondly. “I appreciate this genuinely.”

“You might as well do something that brings joy to yourself and to others,” Geoff says. “Giving to people feels good and having people light up with excitement when they recognize it is awesome.”

So, keep your eyes peeled for a man riding his bike with a duck peeking out of his backpack. While people aren’t going bananas for Duckanas anymore, the happiness they hatched is still being nurtured by Geoff and D’Avian Pekinski.