Sophia Michaels
Office star Rainn Wilson is putting his unique first name to good use, adding a few other extreme weather-related terms around it to raise awareness during the United Nations COP27 climate change conference currently taking place in Egypt.
Wilson debuted the name-change bit in a video shared on social media, quipping at the start, “Hi there, I’m Rainn Wilson, or should I say, Rainn-fall Heat Wave Rising Sea Levels And-We-Have-To-Do-Something-About-It-Now Wilson.” After a deadpan chuckle, he added, “Sorry to get so dark, so quick.”
The “cheap little stunt to help save the planet,” as Wilson put it, was part of his efforts as a board member of Arctic Basecamp, a climate science group that focuses on the dangers and global risks of Arctic weather change. “You see, what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic,” Wilson explained. “As the polar caps melt, it drives up risks throughout the world, including extreme weather events that affect all of us.”
To help raise and spread awareness during COP27, Arctic Basecamp launched a name-change generator for people to tweak their social media handles (or, ostensibly, go as far as actually legally changing their names if they really want). Wilson and Arctic Basecamp are also clearly hoping some big-name celebs will help boost the effort as well. To help nudge things along, Wilson — who also referred to himself as “Acid Rainn Kills Trees Wilson” — shared a handful of readymade names some of the world’s biggest stars could start using right now.
Among the highlights: Cardi the Arctic B Melting; Jack Black Carbon Is Killing Us; Amy Poehler Bears Are Endangered; Harrison Why Not Drive An Electric Ford?; and, last but certainly not least, Leonardo Di-Polar Ice Caprios Are Melting.
There is just one slight hitch to the plan on Twitter, which Wilson noted after uploading the video. Thanks to Elon Musk’s extremely well-organized and rolled-out scheme for getting people to pay for verification on Twitter, those with blue checks are unable to change their current display names.
