Neither Painkillers nor Vitamins: Antidepressants

There is no point of taking these metaphors too far or too seriously.

The idea of painkillers vs. vitamins is a must have vs. nice to have. Call it painkiller, antidepressant or get-out-of-jail ticket the concept is the same.

My favorite metaphor is whether my product is an offer my target customer cannot refuse. For whatever reason.

Generally I've seen those kind of addictive companies covered under "painkillers", in the same sense that heroin and other opiates are abused by recreational users to deal with boredom or unhappiness.