On February 9, millions of Americans will gather for the Super Bowl, a spectacle that’s as much about selling as it is about sports.
Matthew McConaughey, in a recent Uber Eats ad, spells it out: “The whole game is basically an elaborate scheme to make you buy more food.”
And not just food—beer, gambling, social media, crypto. The real economy on display isn’t an attention economy. It’s an addiction economy, where businesses thrive by keeping us hooked.
The Engine
Addiction has always been the backbone of commerce. The British Empire flooded China with opium. The tobacco industry built its fortunes on nicotine. Today, addiction compounds faster than ever—driven by algorithms, processed food, and pharmaceutical fixes.
Half of the 30 top-performing stocks of the last century, by cumulative compound, reflect this: Altria (tobacco), Coca-Cola (sugar), Wyeth (pharma). The biggest winners now? Apple, Alphabet, Meta—companies turning screen time into revenue, monetizing human impulse at scale.
Marlboro Screens
Thirty years ago, people lit cigarettes after meals. Now they check their phones.
Adults unlock their phones 46 times a day; teens, 237. Social media apps optimize for endless scrolling, keeping users trapped in feedback loops designed to override willpower.
TikTok isn’t just addictive—it’s precision-engineered compulsion. According to a Kentucky lawsuit, users can develop dependency in under an hour. Even tech giants are hedging, rolling out “screen time limits,” the digital equivalent of “light” cigarettes.
Food: Built for More
Lab rats will press a lever for sugar over cocaine. Humans? We have an entire industry fine-tuning food to hit that same craving.
Processed foods are designed for the “bliss point”—just tasty enough to keep you eating, but never satisfying enough to stop. The result: 20% of Americans are addicted to food. Obesity is at 40%. Ultra-processed diets raise mortality by 25%.
And the diet industry? It’s often owned by the same corporations that profit from overconsumption. Heinz bought Weight Watchers. Nestlé acquired Jenny Craig. It’s like a casino handing out gambling recovery brochures at the exit.
The Next Wave: GLP-1 Drugs
The food cycle is cracking. GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy are rewriting the rules by suppressing hunger at the source—dopamine.
12% of U.S. adults have already tried them. Food spending among users is down 11%. If 60 million Americans took GLP-1s, Goldman Sachs estimates GDP could grow by 1%. The ripple effects will reshape everything from grocery sales to restaurant chains.
Dopamine Industrial Complex
Big Tech wants your time. Big Food wants your cravings. Big Pharma wants to sell you the antidote. Governments are only now catching up—18 U.S. states have restricted phone use in schools, and Yondr is booming, selling lockable pouches to keep phones out of kids’ hands.
But this isn’t just a public health issue—it’s a business one.
If you’re an entrepreneur, freelancer, or creative, the ability to focus is your competitive edge. The addiction economy isn’t just about consumption; it’s about distraction. The more time you spend reacting, the less time you have to create.
Not a prescription, but “grain of salt” suggestions to take back control:
- Start the day without screens.
- Cut the junk—food, content, anything designed to keep you hooked.
- Create before you consume.
- Sleep like your work depends on it—because it does.
The game is rigged to keep you scrolling, snacking, and spending. Your best play? Step out of the loop and build something. Ship something. Be generous with your output of work and art. Be discerning, and ruthlessly selective about your inputs.
