50-foot rubber duck floats down Thames

LONDON, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A 50-foot-tall rubber duck created by a gaming website was floated down the River Thames in an attempt to spread laughter in London.

Barbara Windsor of website Jackpotjoy said the duck was floated down the river Wednesday morning as part of the website's "Fundation" campaign to boost the average times Britons laugh each day from 7.2 to 15, The Sun reported Wednesday.

Windsor said, "2012 really has been the year of the River Thames with the Jubilee Pageant, the floating Olympic rings and David Beckham jetting into the ceremony via speedboat."

"We decided to round off the year with the giant duck and it certainly cheered everyone up ... no-one could suppress a smile as they saw it sailing past," she said.