热心网友招呼奥巴马来竞选法国总统
An online petition urging Barack Obama to stand in the French election has attracted more than 42,000 supporters.
一项呼吁奥巴马参与法国总统竞选的网络请愿活动已经得到了4.2万多人的支持。
Campaign posters reading "Oui, on peut" - a translation of the former US president's popular 2008 campaign slogan, "Yes, we can" - have appeared around Paris.
Mr Obama is not a French citizen and is thus ineligible to run.
But those behind the prank say the point is to highlight the lack of inspirational candidates.
Their message to the candidates, one of the organizers told the BBC, is: "Hey guys, you really don't make us dream."
French voters go to the polls on 23 April, and, unless one polls more than 50% in the first round, they will return on 7 May to decide between the two frontrunners.
A dominant figure in the campaign has been far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has benefited from claims of financial wrongdoing which have swirled around the campaign of her centre-right rival Francois Fillon since late January, culminating last week in the announcement that a magistrate was launching a formal inquiry into the claims.
Current opinion polls give her a lead of several percentage points over Mr Fillon and centrist Emmanuel Macron - though both of her rivals are predicted to beat her in a two-way runoff.
Ms Le Pen may be backed by a greater number of French voters than ever, but her enduring toxicity for many of the rest means the campaign has been dominated by a negative message, say commentators: How can we keep her out?