Norway’s prime minister goes undercover as taxi driver

So imagine you hopped in a taxi and to your surprise the driver was President Barack Obama. Well, that’s sort of what happened in Oslo when taxi passengers were shocked to discover their country’s prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, behind the wheel.

The social experiment came out just as the Labour Party leader is in the middle of his campaign for re-election. It didn’t take long for passengers to recognize him. One rider told him his eyes looked just like Stoltenberg’s before figuring it out. Then riders got down to business, giving him their opinions. When one woman complained about the high salaries of corporate leaders, Stoltenberg tried to say it was a hard thing to stop. She fired back by saying, “But you are the prime minister.”

Stoltenberg said of the stunt, “As prime minister, it is important to listen to people's opinions. And if there's one place people say what they really mean, it's in the taxi." He added that he wanted to hear real voters' opinions before the election next month. News recently emerged that several of the passengers were paid 64 euros, or about $85, to take part in the video but were not told who would be driving the taxi.