What Is Moo Moo Subaru?

The trend of leaving toy cows on Subarus is taking off.

Ben Hsu | 

Feb 7, 2024 | 3 min read

Subaru

Thousands of Subaru owners across the country have been playing a sort of nationwide game. Total strangers, linked only by their ownership of Subarus, have begun leaving small toy cows on one another's cars. It's mostly a show of camaraderie and a way to have a bit of fun.

How Subie Owners Join the Movement

The rules are simple. When a Subaru owner sees another Subaru parked in the wild, they leave a small toy cow and an explanatory card on the car. The card usually has a cute phrase — "You have been Moo'd!" or "Mooove over, Duck Duck Jeep. It's time for Moo Moo Subaru!" — and a QR code that brings up the Moo Moo Subaru Facebook group. That's where owners share pictures of their mooing experiences and encourage others to play. Members can download the cards directly from the Facebook page.

It's the Subaru Version of Jeep Ducking

If this sounds like Duck Duck Jeep, in which Jeep drivers leave rubber duckies on strangers' Jeeps, there's a good reason for that. According to the Detroit Free Press, Moo Moo Subaru came about when Crosstrek owner Staci Huckins jokingly told her Wrangler-owning friend that she would start "ducking" Subarus, as they're clearly superior to Jeeps and it wasn't fair for Jeep drivers to have all the fun. Her friend told her that wasn't allowed, so Huckins decided to devise her own version.

Why cows? While considering which animal to use, Huckins learned that Subaru happens to be the Japanese word for the seven-star cluster known as the Pleiades, which is part of the constellation Taurus, a bull. If that weren't reason enough to choose a bovine mascot, Huckins reportedly liked the fact that Subaru rhymes with "moo."

Mooing May Soon Surpass Ducking

Jeep ducking began in 2020, and the largest Facebook group celebrating the game has more than 100,000 members. There are multiple regional groups, too. The Moo Moo Subaru group — attracting more than 60,000 followers since its founding in 2023 — is well on its way to catching up.

It may even surpass the Jeep group, as many think of ducking as a Wrangler-specific thing, whereas Moo Moo Subaru is inclusive to all Subaru owners. What's more, the Japanese automaker enjoys one of the most loyal customer bases in the industry. According to a 2022 J.D. Power study, a whopping 62.6% of Subaru SUV owners stayed true to the brand when purchasing their next vehicle.

Many owners also choose to adorn their Subies with a customizable badge of ownership that Subaru provides for free, meant to tell the world how many Subarus they've owned and what hobbies they enjoy.

But even if this trend doesn't take off quite like Duck Duck Jeep, Subaru owners should still be on the lookout and not get upset if someone tells them to have a cow.

Ben Hsu

Ben Hsu is a Southern California-based automotive journalist and historian who has specialized in classic Japanese cars for the last two decades. He drives an FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser and a Subaru SVX. He has also owned countless other vintage and modern vehicles.