Wegners & Crudites: Pa.'s Senate race between Oz, Fetterman takes a turn with a viral video

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Video posted on social media by Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz is getting viral attention.

But not in the way he wanted and not exactly for his intended message.

In the video posted to Twitter in April, the Republican nominee spoke about how inflation at grocery stores is impacting families.

"Inflation is hurting American families. Under Joe Biden, gas prices are skyrocketing and food prices are rising. We must stop the reckless spending. This is outrageous! Thanks a lot, Joe," Oz tweeted.

The video shows Oz shopping at a Pennsylvania supermarket for vegetables to make crudités.

The video resurfaced recently on social media, becoming fodder for Oz's Democratic opponent John Fetterman.

In one of his tweets Wednesday, the current Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania pointed out the way Oz mentioned the name of the grocery store at the start of the video: "Wegners."

"Wegners" appears to be a combination of two grocery chains in Pennsylvania: Wegman's and Redner's.

Fetterman also used the video to keep up his criticism of Oz as an elite carpetbagger, who moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to run for the Senate seat.

In a video of his own, Fetterman counters Oz's use of the word crudités. Fetterman is seen holding a tray of vegetables and says, "In Pa., we call this a veggie tray. And if this looks anything other than a veggie tray to you, then I am not your candidate."

Fetterman also began selling stickers that say "Wegners: Let them eat crudités."

A parody Twitter account acting as the Wegners supermarket chain (whose bio reads "The Crudité Capital of Central PA.") was created days ago. It has over 16,000 followers.

Oz has not responded directly to the social media reaction, but did tweet Tuesday afternoon: "Reminder: Inflation remains at a 40-year high."

In regards to the economy, falling gas prices gave Americans a slight break from the pain of high inflation last month, though the surge in overall prices slowed only modestly from the four-decade high it reached in June.

CNN business reporter Nicole Goodkind writes, "At the grocery store, you're getting about 11 cents less than you did just a year ago. That dollar covers 15 cents less on utility bills and it's worth six cents less on your rent and housing costs. That adds up to a pretty decent chunk of change.

"The rate of inflation is nearly as high as it was in the early 1980s. According to the latest report in July from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it was 8.5% but would have been even higher if not for falling gas prices."

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The Associated Press and the CNN-Wire contributed to this report.