White House Secretly Scraps RFK Jr.’s Ad Blitz After ICE Barbie Disaster

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has lost the chance to roll out his own commercials after Kristi Noem’s controversial ad campaign went too far.

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The health secretary had big plans for a “Take Back Your Health” initiative featuring “bold, edgy” TV and digital ads warning about the dangers of processed foods, but the campaign was canceled weeks ago after concerns over Noem’s widely criticized anti-immigration ad campaign, according to NOTUS.

The initiative was designed to address Americans’ chronic health problems by encouraging people to adopt “disciplined, lifelong habits” centered on eating real food, maintaining physical fitness, and pursuing spiritual growth to help create a “healthier, stronger nation,” according to a notice posted on a government contractor website last year.

In August, Kennedy’s senior counselor, Stefanie Spear, narrowed the field to three public relations firms from more than two dozen bids. Proposals included a Super Bowl ad and commercials featuring TikTok influencer Alix Earle, but White House officials ultimately told the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to scrap the effort, according to sources who spoke to NOTUS.

Kennedy, 72—known for his fitness routines and for catching snakes on camera—reportedly wanted to appear in the ads wearing a continuous glucose monitor, a device commonly used by people with diabetes to track blood sugar levels, as the campaign was designed to highlight the link between processed foods and chronic diseases.

The campaign was quietly shelved, with a cancellation notice appearing on a government website on June 8. The notice gave no specific reason for the decision, saying only that “significant programmatic changes and shifts in agency operational objectives” meant the proposals “no longer accurately reflect the government’s requirements.”

Sources familiar with internal discussions told NOTUS that the campaign’s quiet cancellation was largely driven by fallout from the massive Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advertising contract that ultimately contributed to Noem’s departure.

After taking over as DHS secretary, Noem, 54, became the face of a series of ads filmed across the country and abroad, appearing in various outfits and settings.

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The ads featured footage of DHS immigration operations, migrants crossing the border, drug raids, and Trump raising his fist after the 2024 assassination attempt, while Noem repeatedly praised the president for keeping the country safe. One spot showed Noem on horseback near Mount Rushmore.

The campaign later faced scrutiny over its reported $220 million price tag. Critics questioned the use of taxpayer funds to finance the ads and raised concerns over who approved Noem’s self-promotional campaign.

Noem was fired by Trump shortly after she testified under oath that the president had approved the ads and had even asked her to launch the campaign before she took office. Responding to Republican Sen. John Kennedy, Noem said, “The president tasked me with getting the message out to the country.”

The White House has since sought to distance Trump from the campaign, with the president claiming he “never knew anything about it” and that he had “spent less money than that to become president.” Yet, sources close to the administration told the Daily Beast that Trump “knew about the campaign and wanted it to happen.”

The DHS ads were the third-most expensive U.S. government marketing campaign of the past decade.

Noem’s missteps reportedly led to the replacement of RFK Jr.’s planned public relations effort with a nationwide “Take Back Your Health” tour.

The initiative began in January in Pennsylvania, where Kennedy promoted the new inverted food pyramid and other health guidelines tied to the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

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