Arguably, the Super Bowl is an integral part of American culture — it garners one of the largest audiences in the United States. As a result, companies who want to run commercials during the broadcast have to pay premium prices to get the opportunity to reach almost every American. Super Bowl commercials are known for being intentionally weird and entertaining to leave lasting impressions with their audience. However, some of the ads shown during the 2026 Super Bowl were so controversial that they left viewers confused and concerned.
In fact, over the past few weeks we have seen waves of individuals take their social media feeds by storm to discuss the disturbing ads shown during the Super Bowl. This movement wasn’t limited to just Instagram feeds and TikTok for you pages — prominent newspapers and magazines alike have also covered the eerie dominance of AI, crypto, and weight-loss commercials shown during this year’s Super Bowl programming.
Personally, I think there is not enough conventional news coverage or proper anger over the various weight-loss commercials that viewers were subjected to by trying to watch football. Frustratingly enough, a voice clip from one of these commercials featuring Mike Tyson has gone viral on TikTok as a meme, and the outrageous nature of it was transfigured into a joke — detached from its true dark message.
Before I begin my analysis, I want to give a quick disclaimer and trigger warning that I will be discussing unhealthy weight-loss, eating disorders, and disordered eating behavior in this article. If you are struggling with your mental health, please know you are not alone. The National Eating Disorders Association (also known as NEDA) provides a lot of information about help for individuals struggling with eating disorders and those who wish to support a loved one through their recovery journey. I highly recommend checking out their website!
Serena williams on ro
Former pro tennis player, Serena Williams, has had a partnership with Ro for months. Ro is a telehealth service that has recently shifted its focus to providing accessible prescriptions for weight management concerns. On Feb. 8, 2026, Ro made their Super Bowl debut, and the following commercial was broadcasted in homes all across the country.
In the commercial, Williams declares that she is “on Ro.” The video cuts to a clip of Williams administering a GLP-1 injection, while she shares how many pounds she lost from the medication. An icon with a downward arrow and the number pops up on screen. Next, the video features several clips of Williams dancing and flexing her muscles while she claims how “healthy” she feels from the medication. These clips are interjected by examples of the support the Ro app can provide, as well as visualizations of the injector and the GLP-1 products themselves. Then, the commercial cuts again to Williams dancing. She proudly declares that she is moving better on Ro, and that she is feeling “better” on the GLP-1 medication.
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with taking a GLP-1 if it is medically recommended to you by a doctor, and you have some sort of health condition where you need it. However, the GLP-1 industry is not solely marketing itself to these individuals who have serious health concerns. This is what makes the advertising dangerous. It is not a coincidence that the subject of the ad was an athlete with no severe health problems. If the advertisement showed how effective GLP-1s are for treating type two diabetes, there wouldn’t be a problem. This piece of information is omitted from the advertisement entirely. Instead, the ad’s focus is on the substantial amount of weight lost and how much “better” and “healthier” it made Williams feel, as if true health is inextricably correlated with a magical number on the scale. Truth is, it’s not. We shouldn’t be thinking about health in this way.
It’s disappointing to see Serena Williams market this kind of messaging, considering the fact that she is regarded as a role model for women in sports. Health is not pounds on a scale. Athletic bodies weigh more because of muscle and require more calories to function. Unrealistic body standards have dominated women’s sports for decades, to the point that it has been normalized for professional athletes to suffer from secondary amenorrhea — missing periods — because of their eating habits. Is this really the mentality that we should uphold in 2026?
Hims & Hers: The health Gap
Similar to Ro, Hims & Hers is another telehealth provider. This advertisement briefly references weight loss GLP-1 medications and peptides. Although this is the least problematic commercial out of the three when it comes body image, I wanted to speak about their main message and reveal the truth about the health and wellness industry.
The commercial starts with various fast clips of different people getting expensive procedures done, such as plastic surgery and some sort of specialized breathing therapy. A voiceover explains that these depicted individuals are rich, and that their money helps them live longer. The narrator attributes this to the privilege that rich people have to control their health and customize their care. Nearing the middle of the commercial, the voice exclaims, “They get the best of everything, so why don’t you?” This is where the commercial begins to advertise the Hims & Hers service as an affordable option to get all sorts of care, including the option to “microdose” weight loss drugs.
This is genius marketing, and they’re not wrong. The rich do have privileges when it comes to healthcare and aesthetic treatments. However, the commercial does not show how services like these are profiting off of our overwhelming toxic culture when it comes to health. In 2025, the global health and wellness economy hit a record of $6.8 trillion. Globally, the industry itself is projected to reach $9.8 trillion by 2029. Do the majority of Americans really need to microdose Ozempic? Sure, all of these services provided by Hims & Hers sound great. However, they’re purposely displaying this subscription service as something that everyone needs and is able to afford when that is not the case. You are not a patient to these telehealth companies, you are a customer.
Mike tyson’s “MAke america Healthy AGain” commercial
Unlike the previous commercials, Mike Tyson’s Super Bowl ad isn’t promoting the use of GLP-1 medication and telehealth subscriptions. Instead, this stark advertisement is meant to be a short PSA against processed food. The 30-second commercial was privately funded by donors on behalf of MAHA Center Inc., an independent nonprofit organization. Although this advertisement was not paid for by the government, it was a strategic play to amplify the “Make America Healthy Again” movement that the administration is trying to push. Robert F. Kennedy even endorsed the ad.
The commercial begins with a close-up shot of Mike Tyson as he reveals that his sister died of obesity at 25 years old. A short scene is shown, where Tyson briefly looks away, until the video cuts to another close-up shot. Tyson expresses, “I was so fat and nasty. I would eat anything. I was like 345 pounds.” Then, Tyson goes on to briefly talk about his former experiences with binge eating ice cream. He states, “I had so much self-hate… I wanted to kill myself.” Immediately after this statement, Tyson is shown biting into a carrot and eating an apple. The commercial cuts to another close-up shot of Tyson, where he says, “We have the most obese, fudgy people. Something has to be done about processed food in this country.”
Unfortunately, this “PSA” campaign was effective. It went completely viral because of how “funny” Tyson’s delivery of the lines was. So, the eight-million-dollar price tag of running a Super Bowl ad paid off — subconsciously demonizing food in the mind of every viewer. Look, I’m not trying to invalidate Mike Tyson’s experiences. It’s true, obesity does kill and we do have a serious epidemic of the disease in this country. However, the root cause of obesity is not the sole blame of any food, processed or not. It’s more complex and nuanced than that.
Attributing processed food as “bad” has a kill count in itself. Every 52 minutes, one person dies from an eating disorder. This separation of “good” and “bad” foods promotes disordered thinking and eating habits. The word choices used in the PSA are also highly problematic for this reason. Tyson uses the phrases “nasty” and “fudgy” to describe both himself and others. He also admits that he had suicidal ideation because of his body image. Including this imagery in a publicly broadcasted ad campaign normalizes this disordered behavior. With the budget this commercial had, surely they could have hired a dietitian to talk about easy ways of incorporating more nutrient dense foods into meals. Instead, the ad is promoting harmful relationships with food.
The impact
These advertisements are direct representations of our shifting societal views when it comes to weight, body image, and food. Our society is obsessed with the concept of weight and thinness. Of course, these norms have always existed, but they had previously been challenged by the body positivity movement. We have shifted from acceptance of all body types to equating peak physical form and health with a number on the scale and not actual fitness.
Remember: the Super Bowl is one of the biggest annual events in the United States. Children often watch the Super Bowl with their families and neighbors. This year, they were exposed to the messaging of GLP-1 medications, extreme weight loss, and the words “fat and nasty.” Imagine little kids seeing the MAHA ad, listening to Mike Tyson talk about wanting to kill himself. Of course they’ll think that this is a normal way to talk about their own bodies.
We do not have to be complacent in accepting these harmful messages. We have the power to hold companies and organizations accountable for their actions. These advertisements only have as much power as we, the audience, allow them to have. In summary, please think before you repost a TikTok with Mike Tyson saying, “I was so fat and nasty” in the background. Remember the implications, and the harm it can cause.