People that appeared in the footage of Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg driving a taxi in Oslo were not random citizens picked up from the streets but instead they were selected by a production company and even got paid for their services, according to the local newspaper Verdens Gang.
The Norwegian PM spent an afternoon last week working incognito as a taxi driver in Oslo, in order to interact with the citizens. As he said he had wanted to hear from real Norwegian voters and that taxis were one of the few places where people shared their true views.
Consequently, he wore sunglasses and an Oslo taxi driver's uniform and only revealed his true identity once he was recognized by his passengers. The talks with the passengers were captured on a hidden camera and later posted on social media.
However, the newspaper Verdens Gang claims that that five of the 14 passengers involved in the footage were not random citizens looking for transport, but instead were actors specially recruited for the video by a production company. Moreover, as the newspaper indicates, the selected passengers were contacted via a casting call and paid 500 kroner (€65) for their services.
Following the revelations, Labour Party spokeswoman Pia Gulbradsen confirmed the newspaper’s allegations but underlined that the passengers were unaware of the fact that they would interact with the PM. As she said: “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. Their spontaneity was real when they realized that the driver was the prime minister.”
On the other hand, Stoltenberg claimed that he was only told about the use of paid actors after the video was already made. As he said: “I did not know that when the film was made, but I learned that they were paid afterwards. That was the decision of the production company. They told me that it is normal, and I trusted them and believed that it must be OK.”