I’m not positive but I think “Rubber Ducky Maker” would be a really great job description. These guys make a lot of happy! Source: Reddit. More...
That would be Ed "MAXAMINI" Smith in the early, early days of MINIs in the U.S. and MINIs on Top. He used to give them out just to make people smile. He died in 2005 and they continued partly because they're just cheeky and silly and partly in memory of Ed's mission to just be silly sometimes. Story here and here.
Dang it...Tried to find the classic Viaduct Scene for Coconuts. Removed from Youtube for copyright violation. Arrghh.
No problem. It confused the hell out of me a long time ago. They are two seemingly unrelated things. In a way, it's kind of a nice story. It's horrible that Ed isn't here anymore, obviously, but the legacy is kinda cool. A simple little rubber ducky. It always does make people smile. (I find that rubber duckies also grease the wheels when I have to apologize to parking lot attendants and security guards because a pack of MINI Coopers just took over.)