Make America Healthy Again

In our second campaign, we challenged the president of the United States to go vegan for January 2020 in exchange for $1M to the veterans’ charity of his choice.

The Make America Healthy Again campaign had the backing of some of America’s leading medical doctors, including Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Kim Williams, Dr. Michael Klaper, Dr. Angie Sadeghi, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Joel Kahn, Dr. Garth Davis, and Dr. Neal Barnard. Alongside many other medical professionals, they advocate a plant-based diet to prevent, halt, and reverse some of the country’s biggest killers, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

In a full-page advert published in The New York Times, youth campaigner and Animal Hero Kid President Vegan Evan wrote about the toll of the standard American diet on our health and the economy. In television adverts, he urged the president to lead by example, and to encourage citizens to choose plant-based foods.

The Campaign In Pictures

It was two years before we knew the full impact of this campaign.

In October 2021, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham published a book in which she wrote about our million-dollar offer. She said: “I was communications director at the time and I playfully asked the president if he would ever consider doing that, since the challenge would raise a lot of money for a good cause. I knew he loved his steaks and cheeseburgers, but one month didn’t seem that long.” The president’s response made headlines all over the world: He said he had declined to go vegan for one month because he feared he would lose brain cells!

Nonetheless, tens of thousands of Americans did download our Vegan Starter Kit, and were empowered to try plant-based eating. For every sign-up, we donated $1 to charity.

The Campaign in Numbers

  • Over
    150
    media reach
  • Over
    125
    sign-ups

Ready to go vegan?

Go Vegan

Already vegan?

Get Active