Can health messages break through during this year’s Super Bowl?

At this year’s Super Bowl, advertisers seem keen to ask audiences to hold their beer—and maybe pick up a water instead.

The 2026 Super Bowl is set to be filled with health-centric messages from brands of all sorts. Liquid I.V. and Liquid Death are promoting hydration and “better for you” energy drinks. Oikos is betting on America’s current obsession with protein. Poppi and Raisin Bran are reminding people to consider their gut health. Meanwhile, healthcare and pharma brands like Ro, Lilly, and Hims & Hers will be running ads about GLP-1s, weight loss, and longevity. Some people have gone so far as to call this year the “Wellness Bowl,” which could reflect a larger cultural shift at a time when people are increasingly focused on health optimization.

“The Super Bowl is the biggest cultural stage in the country. It’s where culture is created. It’s where culture is reflected,” Deb Freeman, head of strategy at creative agency Gut New York, told us. “Nutrition has become a national obsession.”

Marketers behind some of these health-focused campaigns told us they’re confident in their ability to cut through with their messaging, even on a day made for chips, dips, and wings.

Get those gains

Protein may now sit at the top of the USDA food pyramid, but the Greek-yogurt brand Oikos has been messaging around protein “long before it was as trendy or prevalent as [it] now is in American discourse,” Victoria Badiola, SVP of Oikos at Danone US, told us. Case in point: Oikos has advertised its high-protein yogurt in the last seven consecutive Super Bowls.

“We’re a brand that is about protein, for sure, but we’re more importantly a brand that’s about strength,” Badiola said. “When you think about the Big Game, there’s almost no moment throughout the year where so many people connect over feats of strength like we’re seeing on the field itself.”

This year, Oikos is promoting its yogurt cups and protein shakes in a spot that shows actor Kathryn Hahn displaying her own feats of strength by pushing a San Francisco cable car carrying NFL player Derrick Henry up a hill. The ad is geared toward Gen Z and millennials in an effort to drive sales, Badiola said, which is why the brand chose to run it exclusively on Peacock. Leading up to the game, Oikos will share protein-forward content and work with influencers to help amplify its message.

Even as other brands hop aboard the protein train, Badiola said she’s not worried about oversaturation. “Even as protein evolves and the space becomes more crowded,” she said, “we’re always trying to stay on the forefront of what consumers are looking for.”

Maxxed out?

If protein does soon hit peak popularity—protein soda, anyone?—then it seems fiber is poised to step in as the next big health fad. That’s why Kellogg’s is returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in 15 years to promote Raisin Bran for the first time ever, Doug VanDeVelde, chief growth officer at WK Kellogg Co, told us. He pointed to recent data from Instacart showing that searches for “high fiber” foods are up, as well as internal market research that shows 70% of people are looking to increase their fiber intake.

“People are becoming more and more aware of gut health as a benefit and its impact on your overall health,” he said. “We’re going to take our fiber message to the Super Bowl, and now’s the time. It’s fiber time.”

To do it, the brand tapped 94-year-old William Shatner to deliver its message around regularity in an ad that refers to the actor and “bran ambassador” as “Will Shat.” Kellogg’s looked to build hype for the campaign in the weeks leading up to the ad debut with paparazzi-style photos of Shatner eating Raisin Bran in his car and walking around with a box of cereal, a strategy reminiscent of the “Michael CeraVe” campaign from 2024.

VanDeVelde said the Super Bowl moment will kick off a broader, fiber-centric campaign that will include partnerships with healthcare creators, a change to Raisin Bran’s packaging emphasizing fiber content, and the promotion of other high-fiber cereals, like Frosted Mini Wheats and All-Bran, and granola. The goal, he said, is to change overall consumer sentiment about fiber.

“Protein has been all the rage,” he said, “but I think fiber is kind of the next big thing.”

A healthy alternative

Beyond competing with other health-adjacent brands, Freeman said good-for-you messaging can “absolutely” compete with messages from more indulgent products on game day.

“Even though right now, [Super Bowl Sunday], might not be the day where we’re thinking about nutrition, you better bet that tomorrow you are going to be thinking about it,” she said.

Still, brand messages—as always—should avoid being boring, while also being disruptive in a way that’s not alienating, she added. While she trusts Raisin Bran did its research, time will tell if people find the bathroom-humor message to be both memorable and effective.

“Being scatological in the Super Bowl?” she said. “I don’t know.”