What starts off like any US supermarket Ad takes quite the unexpected turn when a couple who are casually grocery shopping hold back on buying eggs so that they have enough money to pay their taxes. The big twist comes when the wife blatantly says “we have to set those 7 dollars aside for killing Palestinians”. For the first time, a US commercial feels like a literal punch to the stomach. The question is, who is the person behind it?
Meet Turkey-born Cenk Uygur, democratic presidential candidate and political commentator known for co-creating “The Young Turks”, an online news show. On his official campaign website, he makes it very clear that he is pro-Palestine and that a vote for him “is a vote for peace.” This makes him different from other presidential candidates through his stance on the genocide.
Also on his campaign website is the ceasefire supermarket Ad, his first campaign commercial that acts as a wakeup call to US citizens on how their taxpayer money goes to funding the weapons and bombs killing Palestinians and promoting the genocide.
The Ad is sharp and hard hitting, not holding anything back. At one point, the wife in the video says, “apparently, it’s costing us a lot of money to drop bombs on Gaza.” His Ad was so popular it ended up going viral on TikTok with some people even commenting that it should have been a SuperBowl Ad.
The Ad’s popularity stems from the unfortunate fact that what the overarching message it is trying to deliver is all too real. Every year, the US government sends $3.8 billion to fund the Israeli military. Uygur’s Ad is a wake up call and to many, he represents a refreshing addition to the political landscape.
Yet, there is one small setback, Uygur is not a natural US born citizen meaning that he probably does not fit under the constitutional requirement. Regardless of what will happen in the upcoming US elections, it is good to see US figures in power taking positive action towards Palestine.
