The Office star, Rainn Wilson has changed his name in an effort to draw awareness to climate change.
The actor will henceforth be known as ‘Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson’, a name change he declared was “no joke” in a Tweet announcing his new moniker. Wilson orchestrated the stunt as a board member of the climate organisation, Arctic Basecamp, who established the Arctic Risk Name Generator website as a means of furthering their efforts.
Wilson’s change in title coincides with the United Nations’ climate change conference, COP27, which is being held in Egypt this week. “With the help of my scientist friends at Arctic Basecamp, I’ve changed my name to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson,” the actor said in a video statement. “I’m as serious as the melting Arctic, which amplifies global risks including extreme weather events around the globe.”
Join me @ @ArcticBasecamp in bringing attention to the melting issue. We need world leaders to take action at COP 27!
The Arctic is melting at Millions of Liters per second, yet this problem can’t seem to make a name for itself, so we’ll make a name for it.
Go to link in bio ⬆️ pic.twitter.com/TgEG84fOmQ— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) November 9, 2022
The actor went on to reference the coinciding climate conference, saying that “world leaders at COP27 to take notice and take action.” Wilson encouraged viewers to direct themselves to the name change generator, and apply that title to their social media pages to highlight the issue on a mass scale. The Office alum later added that he hopes the “cheap little stunt to save planet earth” will “bring attention to this growing… er, melting issue.”
JOIN ME!https://t.co/4BCXPu9r1B https://t.co/YgelmIg5Ah
— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) November 10, 2022
Wilson has long been an advocate for action on climate change, having released a six-part YouTube docuseries titled An Idiot’s Guide to Climate Change in 2020. The series featured Greta Thunberg, and was billed as “lean[ing] on Wilson’s popularity and his wry, self-deprecating humour to make climate change seem less daunting.”
Wilson — who starred as Dwight Schrute in the beloved sitcom — went on to implore fellow celebrities to likewise change their names, suggesting that Cardi B change to ‘Cardi the Arctic B Melting’. He also offered a new title for actress Amy Poheler, who he referred to as ‘Amy Poehler Bears Are Endangered’.
