In a dramatic black-and-white Super Bowl commercial that cut through the usual beer and soda blitz, boxing icon Mike Tyson delivered a deeply personal message about America’s eating habits.
“We’re the most powerful country in the world, and we have the most obese, fudgy people,” Tyson says in the 30-second video.
The former heavyweight champion revealed he once weighed 345 pounds after retiring from boxing.
“I was so fat and nasty, I would eat anything. A quart of ice cream every hour,” he admitted. Tyson also spoke candidly about battling self-hatred during that phase, saying he had spiraled into destructive habits.
The most important fight of my life isn’t in the ring.I’m not fighting for a belt. I’m fighting for our health.
Processed foods are killing us. We have been lied to and we need to eat real food again. pic.twitter.com/vnxHoCqHTJ
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) February 6, 2026
The advertisement ends with the blunt slogan: “Processed Food Kills” and “Eat Real Food.”
Sister’s death at 25: “She died of obesity”
Tyson’s most emotional moment came as he recalled the loss of his sister, Denise.
“My sister’s name was Denise. She died of obesity at the age of 25. She had a heart attack,” Tyson says in the ad.
Denise, who reportedly weighed between 300 and 400 pounds, was found unconscious at her home in Queens in 1990. Her death, Tyson suggests, profoundly shaped his views on food and health.
Vegan transformation journey
After retirement and struggles with drug abuse, Tyson’s weight reportedly ballooned by nearly 170 pounds over his fighting prime. By 2009, he was clinically obese.
In 2010, he adopted a vegan lifestyle, a decision he has credited with reversing multiple health issues.
“I had high blood pressure, arthritis. I could hardly breathe,” Tyson has said in past interviews. “Turning vegan helped me eliminate all those problems.”
Over the next decade, he shed significant weight through dietary changes and renewed fitness efforts.
RFK Jr.’s food pyramid overhaul
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. welcomed the ad’s message, tying it directly to the new federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans his department recently released.
Thank you for sharing your story Mike — and delivering the most important message in Super Bowl history.We don’t have to be the sickest country in the developed world.
The answer is simple: EAT REAL FOOD. https://t.co/KW5Q9Zo7sm
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) February 6, 2026
The Super Bowl ad was funded by the MAHA Center, aligned with the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
Kennedy recently rolled out revised federal dietary guidelines that take aim at sugar and ultraprocessed foods. The updated food pyramid places whole foods, including steak, cheese and whole milk, near the top, while strongly discouraging processed products.
Ultraprocessed foods, including certain frozen meals, packaged snacks and sugary cereals, have been increasingly linked in scientific studies to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Kennedy has repeatedly argued that Americans have been “misled” about food choices and that tackling diet-related illness must become a national priority.
Critics warn against “food shaming”
While the message has found bipartisan support among many voters concerned about children’s health, some public health experts have cautioned against the tone of the campaign.
Lindsey Smith Taillie, associate professor of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, has said that shaming individuals over weight can be counterproductive and may worsen unhealthy behaviors.
However, MAHA Center leaders defended the ad’s confrontational approach, calling it a “dramatic wake-up call” aimed at sparking national conversation.
Between commercials for soda and fast food, Tyson’s ad stood out as a stark warning about America’s diet.
