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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
World
Jake Hackney

The Office star Rainn Wilson changes name to highlight climate change amid COP27

Star of the US version of The Office Rainn Wilson has changed his name to raise awareness of climate change. The actor – best known for playing Assistant to the Regional Manager Dwight Schrute in the hit sitcom – posted a video on social media on Wednesday saying he has changed his name on his social media profiles to Rainnfall Heat Wave Extreme Winter Wilson.

Wilson, 56, made the change in association with Arctic climate science and awareness group Arctic Basecamp – on which he sits as a board member – as world leaders meet for the COP27 summit in Egypt. In the video posted to Twitter, Wilson says: “Our mission at Arctic Basecamp is to raise awareness of the global risks of Arctic weather change.

“It’s not just bad news for the Arctic, but for us, too. As the polar caps melt, it drives up risks throughout the world, including extreme weather events that affect all of us.

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“So, as a cheap little stunt to help save planet Earth, I’ve changed my name on Twitter, Instagram and even on my fancy writing paper.”

Wilson then holds up a piece personalised paper on which his name has been changed to Acid Rainn Kills Trees Wilson. “I am an Arctic risk name changer which is going to be a game changer,” he added.

He then urged his followers to follow his example “and create a name that will bring attention to this problem” by using Arctic Risk’s Name Generator at ArcticRiskName.org. He also offered some name change examples for other celebrities, including Cardi the Arctic B Melting and Amy Poehler Bears are Endangered.

Despite his efforts, Wilson was unable to change his name on Twitter following new boss Elon Musk’s changes to the site preventing name changes for verified users. Wilson Tweeted: “THEY WON’T LET ME CHANGE MY NAME BECAUSE, ELON!”

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