Mike Tyson's Super Bowl Ad Tried To Fat-Shame America — Here's Why It Won't Work
HuffPost
Health experts say MAHA's ad oversimplifies a complicated issue and is loaded with shaming language that can cause unintended harm.
A black and white close-up of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson opens up a Super Bowl commercial as he looks mournfully into the distance, recounting the death of his sister Denise at 25, which he attributes to obesity.
The 30-second spot, funded by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Center, grows increasingly stark from there, cataloguing the health struggles Tyson says followed years of extreme eating, including consuming a quart of ice cream every half hour.
Online reactions have ranged from ridicule to sharp criticism, with some Reddit users comparing the ad’s tone to a surreal “30 Rock” sketch.
The ad packs multiple charged claims into the 30-second spot, referencing self-hatred and self-harm (Tyson calls himself “fat and nasty”), describing fat Americans as “fudgy,” and closing on a stark “Processed Food Kills, Eat Real Food” message superimposed over Tyson and his son chomping into apples.
Eating disorder specialists say moments like this reflect a broader pattern in modern health messaging — one that simplifies complex science, leans on shame and risks reinforcing harmful narratives about bodies and food that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA agenda is strongly promoting. Let’s dive in.
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