Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had big plans for his much touted “Take Back Your Health” campaign last year. The Health Department he leads requested bids for “bold, edgy” pitches for TV and digital ads warning about the dangers of processed foods. Kennedy wanted to appear in ads wearing a device used by diabetics to track blood sugar.
None of it ever came together. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had rained on Kennedy’s parade.
The $10 million to $20 million health campaign wasn’t officially canceled until a few weeks ago, according to a notice posted June 8 to a government website. But two sources familiar with the internal conversations told NOTUS that the reason why the campaign fell apart goes back to the immigration-related ads Noem filmed while DHS secretary.
The White House, skittish about generating negative attention and spending money on contracts amid widespread government cuts, didn’t want Kennedy featured in a campaign. It had recently received heat for the Noem ads, which cost tens of millions of dollars in contracts and featured the secretary telling illegal immigrants to self-deport. Noem garnered even more pushback when she appeared on horseback in one ad filmed later that year.Kennedy’s senior counselor, Stefanie Spear, had narrowed down bidders for the “Take Back Your Health” campaign to three public relations firms last August when White House officials directed HHS to abort the effort, according to the two sources.
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The agency kept quiet about terminating the campaign. The June 8 notice gives only a vague explanation for why contracts were never awarded.
“Due to significant programmatic changes and shifts in agency operational objectives, the current request for proposals … no longer accurately reflects the government’s requirements,” the notice says.
The campaign, which HHS solicited bids for in June 2025, was intended to highlight the links between processed foods and chronic disease, especially diabetes.
HHS had asked for pitches for “bold, edgy national campaigns with innovative messaging” especially aimed at Americans with diabetes. Pitches could include social media, TV, print and digital ads, public service announcements, text messages and audience engagement tools.
“The campaign’s creative content will turn heads, create viral moments on social media, and—above all else—inspire Americans to take back their health through eating real food,” the bid description said.
HHS had reviewed more than two dozen different bids before narrowing them to three, the sources said. One bidder pitched a Super Bowl ad and another wanted ads to feature TikTok influencer Alix Earle, according to text messages viewed by NOTUS.
Ad pitches should focus especially on diabetes, which affects more than 38 million Americans, the bid description said. “The campaign should be a wake-up call to Americans that eating processed foods dramatically increase the risks of diabetes and chronic disease,” it said.
Spokespeople for the White House and HHS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Instead of a national ad blitz, the administration has dispatched Kennedy around the country — sometimes to swing districts — on a “Take Back Your Health” tour where the secretary has touted his efforts on new dietary guidelines and other food reforms.
The campaign received some initial positive reviews from nutrition experts, who have largely applauded Kennedy’s emphasis on improving Americans’ diets as a critical step to reducing the nation’s chronic disease burden.
Last month Kennedy visited Colorado, where he and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced a new website that encourages people to exercise and participate in outdoor recreation.
The administration has allowed another ad campaign to lapse — the long-running and highly effective series called “Tips From Former Smokers.” States are being given some funding to run ads from the campaign’s archive but the federal government isn’t producing new ads or airing them nationwide, The New York Times reported.
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