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Mike Tyson delivered a clear message to the American people in a Super Bowl ad that drew both praise and criticism: “Eat Real Food.”
“We’re the most powerful country in the world, and we have the most obese, fudgy people,” the heavyweight champion said in a 30-second ad sponsored by the MAHA Center, according to Politico.
“Something has to be done about processed food in this country,” he added in a voice-over, as the video showed Tyson and his son biting into apples.
In the short video, Tyson said his sister died at age 25 from an obesity-related heart attack. He also described a period in his own life when he felt “fat and nasty” and weighed over 345 pounds. He struggled with intense self-hatred, saying he “wanted to kill himself.”
The ad ends with the words, “Processed Food Kills,” and “Eat Real Food,” flashing across the screen.
The ad directs viewers to the new government website RealFood.gov. The site includes the new federal dietary guidelines, announced in January by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It also features the Super Bowl ad.
Before the Super Bowl, Kennedy appeared on Fox News to discuss the Eat Real Food campaign and the ad.
“I think it’s the most important ad in Super Bowl history because it’s a crisis … that is existential for us,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said that when his uncle, John F. Kennedy, was president, the U.S. did not need to spend money on chronic disease. Today, it spends $4.3 trillion every year.
“It’s going to bankrupt us,” he said.
He also said the issue was “spiritual warfare,” because processed foods have serious effects on mental health too — “despite what The New York Times says” — referring to a recent controversy over his comments linking schizophrenia to processed foods.
The ad featuring Tyson was released on social media two days before the Super Bowl.
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Majority of parents consider processed foods a major threat to kids’ health
A growing body of research links processed foods to chronic conditions — including diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Studies also suggest that processed foods can be addictive.
An October poll by KFF and The Washington Post found that concerns about processed foods cut across political lines. The vast majority of parents polled considered processed foods and obesity to be a major threat to children’s health.
Even so, legacy media organizations attacked the Super Bowl ad. The Times quoted Lindsey Smith Taillie, a nutrition professor at the UNC Gillings School of Public Health. Taillie said the ad was counterproductive because it shamed people for their weight and their food choices.
Politico noted that Kennedy’s position on processed foods has widespread support — but his “anti-vaccine policies” sharply divide Americans.
More than 120 million people in the U.S. watch the Super Bowl, and the ad has since gone viral on X and other social media platforms.
The nonprofit MAHA Center, which funded the ad, said on its website that the video is part of a broader campaign. The campaign will also include ads on taxicabs with the slogan “Processed Food Kills” and images of Tyson.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced by email on Monday that Tyson will join a press conference on Wednesday. At the press conference, Kennedy, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and other stakeholders will deliver an update on the implementation of the new dietary guidelines.
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