Super Bowl ads are supposed to make you laugh, cry, or reach for your phone to Google whatever just flashed across the screen. This year, one of them might also make you pause mid-bite and question every decision that led to your snack table.
That’s because Mike Tyson is stepping into living rooms nationwide with a message that cuts through the noise: processed food is slowly killing Americans.
The legendary boxer is starring in a new ad for the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, and it wastes no time pulling punches.
In the 30-second spot, Tyson speaks directly to the camera, reflecting on the loss of his sister and his own long struggles with weight and health. The message is blunt, personal, and intentionally uncomfortable.
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“We’re the most powerful country in the world,” Tyson says in the ad, pointing viewers to RealFood.gov. “And we have the most obese, pudgy people. Something has to be done about processed food in this country.”
There’s no attempt to soften the language, and no effort to sugarcoat the reality. That’s part of what makes the timing so brutal-and so effective. This message isn’t airing during a quiet weekday afternoon. It’s dropping while millions of people are surrounded by wings, chips, dips, sliders, and desserts.
Watching it while you’re elbow-deep in your third helping of hot wing dip won’t feel great. But it might be exactly the reaction the campaign is aiming for.
Why the Super Bowl Is the Perfect Time
If the goal is behavior change, there’s no better moment to intervene than during the country’s most indulgent food holiday. As someone who is handsome, smart, witty, and could absolutely stand to lose a few pounds, I can confirm this: the message hits harder when you’re already in the middle of making questionable choices.
Nobody needs a lecture about nutrition while eating a salad. You need it when you’re staring down a second meatball sub and quietly wondering, “What am I doing to myself?” That’s when the message lands.
Tyson works as a spokesperson because he isn’t pretending to be flawless. He’s lived through the consequences. He’s fought addiction, weight issues, and health scares, and he’s come out the other side in remarkable shape for his age. That lived experience gives the ad credibility that a polished influencer never could.
The campaign taps into a broader national conversation about ultra-processed foods and their role in obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Tyson doesn’t rattle off statistics. He doesn’t need to. His story does the heavy lifting, and his presence alone carries authority.
There’s also something refreshing about the simplicity of it all. He’s not selling a diet plan, a supplement, or a rebranded miracle solution. The pitch is basic: eat real food, or keep paying the price. Delivered by a man who once made a career out of ending fights quickly, the message lands with force.
All Tyson really has to do is look into the camera and call the entire nation pudgy, and suddenly you’re reconsidering that extra handful of chips.
Looking ahead, the true impact of the ad won’t be measured by laughs or outrage, but by what happens after the game ends. If it sparks even a brief moment of self-awareness-or a small change in habits-it’s done its job. And if anyone can shame America into rethinking processed food, it’s Iron Mike.
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