Tusi ('pink cocaine') spreads because it’s visually striking and status‑coded, not because of its chemistry—often containing no cocaine or 2CB. Its bright color, premium pricing, and social‑media virality let it displace traditional white powders and jump from Colombia to Spain and the UK.
— If illicit markets now optimize for shareable aesthetics, drug policy, platform moderation, and public‑health messaging must grapple with attention economics, not just pharmacology.
Noah Smith
2026.01.16
42% relevant
Noah emphasizes attention economics — influencers make lifestyles look glamorous and contagious; this parallels the 'Instagrammable drugs' idea that visual, shareable aesthetics can drive real‑world adoption. Both highlight platform attention as an independent vector of social change beyond the underlying substance or good.
Steve Sailer
2026.01.15
60% relevant
That idea emphasizes aesthetics and shareability as drivers of demand in illicit markets; by analogy, Sailer’s observation suggests that the shareability/performative aspect of attending major events (the story you can post, the visible trophy‑status) inflates prices — the article’s contrast between cheap past tickets and today’s $3k seats ties to attention/viral economics highlighted by the existing idea.
msmash
2026.01.07
62% relevant
Both pieces identify the same business logic: producers optimize products for visual/attention appeal and social display (the Frame/Ember ‘art TV’ as a wall‑mounted status object, just as ’Instagrammable’ drugs prioritized shareable aesthetics). The article’s focus on younger urban buyers, premium look and social display connects directly to the idea that attention economics can drive adoption and displace incumbents.
Poppy Sowerby
2026.01.07
60% relevant
Although about toys not drugs, the article points to the same mechanism—visual, shareable aesthetics and social‑media virality (Instagram, TikTok pop‑ups) driving rapid adult adoption of an otherwise child‑oriented product. The Selfridges ‘chip shop’ stunt and record‑seeking collections are parallel to how visually striking products spread, as argued in the existing 'Instagrammable drugs' idea.
Nikos Mohammadi
2026.01.03
52% relevant
Both ideas show how attention‑driven aesthetics (bright drug packaging in the cited idea; curated bodily aesthetics and 'vibe' in looksmaxxing) can change social adoption and market behaviour — here, aesthetics are used to recruit status‑seeking audiences and accelerate risky practices that spill into crime and public harm (Clavicular’s livestreamed violence and cosmetic self‑harm).
Max Daly
2025.10.01
100% relevant
Spain’s government calls pink cocaine one of the most significant recent drug‑market developments; TICTAC’s Trevor Shine says UK growth is fast, and the article details Instagram‑ready colors, packaging, and celebrity linkage.