Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Already finished bingeing through Netflix’s drug drama Narcos, but are still itching for a gritty fix? These provocative cocaine advertisements from the ’70s and ’80s just might do the trick. For your nostalgic paraphernalia pleasure, Ad Week by way of the UK’s Don’t Panic magazine has curated shocking fan findings of the era’s pro-cocaine ad campaigns. These delightfully cheeky, hysterically tacky magazine ads (as seen in the gallery below) range from sophisticated to sensationalized with a few “how-to” guides sprinkled in between (as in: “How to Remove Cuts from Your Coke”). All, however, reflect a time in America’s history where cocaine was tailor-marketed to urban elite with disposable income to spend on state-of-the-art scales, ivory crafted spoons, and snorting-specific mirrors to accessorize those naughty habits.
These resurfaced media artifacts go hand-in-hand with Narcos‘ interweaving of archival news footage throughout the period drama. News clips and a slew of photographs highlight a decade when Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel reigned as one of the most powerful and dangerous business operations in the world. So go ahead. Scroll through and step back in time to when sending a check or money order for a cocaine flute (this was a thing?!) was merely a stamped letter away.
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