Has Ben Carson ever endorsed supplement brands publicly or in paid ads?
Executive summary
Ben Carson has appeared in promotional material and spoken at events for at least one supplement company (Mannatech), and his image and words have been used in third‑party ads and webpages promoting various “natural” remedies—but multiple fact‑checks and Carson’s representatives have repeatedly denied that he authorized or gave paid endorsements for many of the products shown, and numerous recent ads circulating online that claim a Carson endorsement are demonstrably fake or fabricated [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. The concrete evidence: public appearances and promotional videos
Reporting documents that Ben Carson gave speeches at Mannatech events in 2004, 2011 and 2013 and that he appeared in a promotional video discussing Mannatech’s glyconutrient products, which the company used in marketing materials—coverage in Media Matters and contemporary reporting cite Carson’s remarks about using the products and his participation in company events [1]. Those appearances constitute public promotional activity linking Carson with a commercial supplement maker, and Media Matters notes the timing overlapped with his Fox News role, raising questions about network policies [1].
2. Denials, unauthorized use, and journalistic fact checks
Despite documented appearances, fact‑checking outlets and Carson’s own representatives have at times denied formal endorsements; Snopes reported that Carson told CNN he had never endorsed Mannatech’s products and did not authorize use of his image, even as his speeches and interviews were used in the company’s promotional materials [2]. AFP and Science Feedback analyzed recent social‑media ads that used altered images and fake “news” pages to claim Carson discovered miracle cures, and both outlets quote Carson’s nonprofit and representatives saying he did not give such endorsements and that the ads are scams or fabricated [3] [4].
3. The modern problem: deepfakes, fake covers and scam ad patterns
Investigations of social media ad campaigns promoting unproven hypertension and “blood‑vessel cleaning” remedies show a pattern of fabricated endorsements—images of Time covers, doctored Nature lookalikes, and even synthetic audio/video have been used to imply Carson’s backing; UB’s Media Forensics Lab and Lead Stories found at least one high‑profile ad used fake audio/video to claim Carson endorsed gummies, and fact‑checkers concluded the video did not show a real endorsement [5] [4] [3]. Science Feedback explains that these scams reuse celebrity names and fabricated publications to sell products, and that Carson’s team denied involvement for the specific CBD‑style promotions examined [4].
4. Competing narratives and commercial motivations
There are two overlapping realities: documented, historical promotional activity with Mannatech that placed Carson on company stages and in marketing content [1], and a broader wave of modern scam advertising that falsely attributes endorsements to him without authorization [3] [4] [5]. Multilevel‑marketing firms and online “cure” advertisers have clear commercial incentives to attach a recognizable medical figure to their claims, which can blur perceptions about whether an endorsement was paid, authorized, or accurately represented—reporting on Mannatech also notes the company’s legal troubles and skepticism from regulators [1].
5. What the record does and does not prove
The sources establish that Carson publicly associated with Mannatech via speeches and a promotional video that the company used [1], and that he and his representatives have denied formal endorsement or authorization in some instances when products later leveraged his image [2]. The fact‑check sources further demonstrate that many contemporary ads claiming a Carson endorsement are fabricated, including deepfakes and fake article pages, but the publicly available reporting in these sources does not provide a comprehensive ledger of every paid ad contract or every instance of compensation—those payment records are not documented in the cited material [3] [4] [1] [2].
6. Bottom line for readers weighing claims
A fair reading: Ben Carson has appeared in and been used in promotional contexts for supplement companies (notably Mannatech) but has also been the target of unauthorized uses, fake endorsements and deepfakes; multiple reputable fact‑checks conclude he did not authorize the recent wave of Facebook ads and scam pages that claim his endorsement, even while historical promotional ties to at least one supplement firm are on the public record [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].