Mike Tyson's Controversial Super Bowl Ad Draws Criticism from Health Experts
A stark black-and-white close-up of former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson opens a recent Super Bowl commercial, with the athlete looking mournfully into the distance as he recounts the death of his sister Denise at age 25, which he attributes to obesity. The 30-second advertisement, funded by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Center, grows increasingly intense from that emotional starting point, cataloguing the health struggles Tyson says followed years of extreme eating habits, including consuming a quart of ice cream every half hour.
Online reactions to the advertisement have ranged from ridicule to sharp criticism, with some Reddit users comparing the ad's unusual tone to a surreal sketch from the television show 30 Rock. The commercial packs multiple charged claims into its brief runtime, referencing self-hatred and self-harm as Tyson calls himself fat and nasty, describes overweight Americans as fudgy, and closes with the stark superimposed message: Processed Food Kills, Eat Real Food over footage of Tyson and his son biting into apples.
Oversimplified Health Messaging Draws Expert Concern
Eating disorder specialists say moments like this reflect a broader pattern in modern health messaging that simplifies complex nutritional science, leans heavily on shame-based tactics, and risks reinforcing harmful narratives about bodies and food that the MAHA agenda under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is actively promoting.
The advertisement's central argument presents a binary choice between processed and real foods, but nutrition experts argue this oversimplifies a nuanced issue. As a dietitian, the sentiment 'eat real food' resonates, but it oversimplifies a complex issue, explained Marissa Karp, a registered dietitian and founder of MPM Nutrition based in New York. Processing exists on a spectrum, and many processed foods like yogurt or pre-cut vegetables are nutritious and accessible.
Because food processing often makes products safer, more affordable, and easier to access, experts caution that demonizing all processed foods can cause unintended harm. Jennifer Rollin, an eating disorder therapist and founder of the Eating Disorder Center in Rockville, Maryland, emphasized that this type of messaging can actually hurt rather than help, particularly for people with histories of disordered eating.
Fear-mongering around processed foods will certainly contribute to the epidemic of disordered eating and eating disorders that we are seeing in this country, Rollin stated. Having a more flexible approach towards eating, enjoying foods you like, and sharing meals with friends is far healthier than isolating yourself while consuming so-called clean foods.
The Problem with Targeting All Processed Foods
Perhaps Tyson was referring specifically to ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in his advertisement products made from refined ingredients and additives like certain cereals, energy drinks, infant formula, and premade dinners. However, health experts note the commercial blurs this important distinction, turning a nuanced category into a sweeping warning against all processed items.
While some research has linked diets high in ultra-processed foods to increased risks of obesity, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and other health concerns, eating disorder specialists emphasize the conversation becomes far more complicated when entire categories of food are framed as inherently dangerous and off-limits.
Why Body-Shaming Tactics Fail to Improve Health
Instead of presenting educational information in a constructive format, the commercial veers into territory closer to schoolyard taunts. Tyson's line I was so fat and nasty, I would eat anything sounds less like nutritional education and more like a punchline at someone else's expense, a tone that eating disorder experts say can be deeply harmful.
The language was extremely insulting and fat-shaming, said Lauren Muhlheim, a licensed psychologist and owner of Eating Disorder Therapy LA. I was really shocked when I heard it. It was potentially extremely harmful to many vulnerable people. Furthermore, research shows that shaming people does not lead to changing behaviors.
This concern is supported by scientific evidence. A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that weight stigma was associated with poorer mental and physical health outcomes, leading to disordered eating patterns, increased stress levels, and more weight gain over time.
Body image experts identify this as a pervasive and damaging cultural narrative. Jessi Kneeland, a body neutrality coach and author, noted the commercial links fatness with suffering while positioning thinness as the exclusive path to happiness. This reinforces the idea that to feel good and have a good life we must be thin, Kneeland explained, which encourages people to prioritize weight loss over everything else, leading to disordered eating, body dysmorphia, and obsession while making us feel insecure about normal weight fluctuations throughout our lives.
Diet Culture's Pervasive Influence
What also stood out about the advertisement wasn't just its language or message familiar features of modern diet culture but the choice of Mike Tyson as its messenger. Health experts say this points to a broader issue around who is typically seen as vulnerable to disordered eating in contemporary society.
It's important to acknowledge that eating disorders are often under-recognized in men, and that additional stigma and stereotypes around eating disorders can further delay recognition and treatment in BIPOC communities, Rollin emphasized. While dieting and disordered eating are frequently framed as issues primarily affecting women, men also struggle significantly with these conditions.
Current estimates suggest between 2 and 3.6 percent of men are affected by eating disorders, though researchers believe underdiagnosis likely means the true number is substantially higher. The reality is that eating disorders do not discriminate based on age, race, body size, or gender, Rollin concluded.
Eating disorders carry among the highest mortality rates of any mental health condition, but that sobering reality would make for less headline-grabbing advertising material especially when fear and fat-shaming are easier to package into memorable slogans.
