Story highlights Organizers hope to get 1 million people to sign a petition

It's a joke with a serious purpose

(CNN) Could France elect Barack Obama president? Not really -- but that's not stopping the organizers of Obama17, a guerrilla campaign trying to entice the former U.S. president to head to Paris.

"It's totally crazy, but the cool thing is that once you get past that, you start thinking that maybe it's possible. Who cares that he's not French? He's Barack Obama," one of the campaign organizers told CNN.

They've launched a website and they put up 500 posters of Obama around Paris last weekend, said the organizer. He asked to be identified only as Antoine.

They're hoping to get 1 million people to sign a petition urging Obama to run.

Yes, it's a joke, he admits -- but one with a serious purpose.

Read More