French presidential candidate hides Konami code in campaign website

François Bayrou, a candidate in the country's impending presidential election, has adopted a rather eccentric new strategy to boost his support - chase down that elusive retro gamer demographic.

As reported by The Telegraph, if you head on over to Bayrou's site and enter the famous Konami code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A) using your keyboard, you'll be treated to an 8-bit style campaign clip.

Titled "Un pays uni, rien ne lui resiste" - which translates roughly as "nothing can resist a united nation" - the brief movie calls on the French electorate to help "rebuild the social contract to save democracy". It ends with the words "Insert vote to play".

It seems Bayrou, who's head of the centrist Democratic Movement, certainly needs some fresh ideas. He picked up just 6.8 per cent of the public vote in the 2002 election, and 18.6 per cent in 2007.

UK bookmaker Ladbrokes is currently offering odds of 66/1 on Bayrou winning next week's public vote.