Some passengers were paid to take part in a buzz-generating video that showed Norway's prime minister undercover as a taxi driver probing voters' concerns, his party has admitted.
Just one month out from Norway's legislative elections, a video was released on Sunday showing Prime Minister Jens Stoltenbeg wearing a taxi driver's uniform and sunglasses, sitting at the wheel as he drives passengers around Oslo.
The video quickly generated a lot of buzz on social networks and in the media.
In power since 2005, Stoltenberg explains at the beginning that he wants to get close to voters to hear their concerns.
But tabloid Verdens Gang revealed on Monday that five of the 14 passengers filmed with hidden cameras fitted in the cab were actually chosen during a casting call.
"They're five ordinary people who were asked if they wanted to take part in a video for the Labour Party and who knew nothing else, except that they were going to be picked up in a taxi," party spokeswoman Pia Gulbrandsen said.
"Their spontaneity was real when they realised that the driver was the prime minister."
Each of the five received 500 kroner ($A95) "as a thank you", the Labour Party said.
None of the passengers had to pay their fares either, since Stoltenberg does not have a permit to drive a taxi.
The owner of the public relations firm that made the video, Kjetil Try - a friend of the prime minister's - said the casting call was necessary to ensure passengers were available at the right time and that they represented a broad diversity.
Recent opinion polls show Stoltenberg's centre-left coalition lagging far behind the right wing ahead of the September 9 election, and the success of the video was not expected to be enough to turn things around.
